Voice from the Stone Review: Emilia Clarke leads Voice from the Stone, a chilling ghost story set in 1950’s Tuscany.
Voice from the Stone review, Kat Hughes.
Voice from the Stone Review
It’s hard to believe that just six years ago no one knew the name Emilia Clarke. Since the launch of Game of Thrones she has been catapulted into the major leagues and is known everywhere as being the mother of dragons. In new movie Voice from the Stone she plays a different type of mother, a surrogate mother and carer for a mute boy.
Set during the 1950’s, Clarke stars as Verena, a young nurse hired to help look after a young boy, Jakob (Edward Dring), in an isolated castle in Tuscany. Jakob has been rendered mute since the death of his mother, much to the frustration of his father Klaus (Marton Csokas). As Verna starts to connect with Jakob she realises that he has an unhealthy obsession with the castle walls; he believes his dead mother is talking to him through the stone. Verna initially discards these as delusions of a grieving child, however, she soon finds herself believing the impossible.
Voice from the Stone Review
As Verena, Emilia Clarke gives a great performance, one that is far removed from ‘The Mother of Dragons’, and gives audiences a chance to see her out of her comfort zone. Gone are the big-budget productions, Voice from the Stone is much more stripped back and Clarke has nowhere to hide. Here Clarke is captivating and commands the viewer’s attention. She plays Verna with a perfect balance of innocence, intelligence, repression, passion, and towards the end, she literally sizzles with sensuality.
Voice from the Stone Review
Voice from the Stone is a strange, slow-burning supernatural thriller. You might think that from reading the synopsis you’ve got the film pegged, but it goes to some very unexpected places. This is a very Gothic, Others-esque story full of intrigue. It’s beautifully shot; the locations are fantastic, and with such rich sources, the cinematography is simply stunning. The movie is full to bursting with sweeping scenic shots of the castle, surrounding quarry and meadows. The soundtrack too works great, it’s all haunting pianos and additionally features Evanescene’s Amy Lee on vocals. Her voice works perfectly in this chilling period piece.
Voice from the Stone moves at an incredibly slow pace which works well within the Gothic ghost story genre. However, after moving so slowly for the majority, it suddenly races to the finale. This loses some of the tension and also results in muddling some of the story. You’ve become so used to being drip-fed information, having a bucket-load dumped on you all at once is strange and confusing.
Voice from the Stone review by Kat Hughes, August 2017.
Available on DVD from Monday 28th August, Voice from the Stone is currently playing as part of the Horror Channel Frighfest 2017 programme.
