Rent Playhouse (2020)

An uneven horror story (minor spoilers) - Playhouse review by NP

A beautifully directed production does its best to mask an uneven story involving an eccentric writer who moves himself and his daughter into a remote Scottish castle.

The characters are weird bunch. Bee Travis (Grace Courtney) is a petulant, bored, continually unimpressed, rude teen who does nothing whatsoever to endear herself to anyone. Her father, writer Jack, on whom the story focuses on too much, is impressively played by William Holstead; he drifts from endearing eccentricity to enraged madness, but becomes, dare I say, way too camp to be frightening.

Rather more appealing and believable are Callum and Jenny (James Rottger and Helen Mackay), who initially appear to also be in their teens, but are in fact a professional couple. When these two become embroiled in the creepiness, it is easier to care about them.

However, there is little pace and things meander rather than heading to any kind of climax. Bee becomes forgotten in the final third until the end, where a physical manifestation of evil finally materialises in its brief CGI glory.

This is interesting more than anything else; for Fionn Watts and Toby Watts, who write, produce and direct, ‘Playhouse’ appears to be a labour of love, and a commendable one at that, but somehow it misses its mark a little. My score is 6 out of 10.