The Miniaturist (2017)

Redundant and unnecessary.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An adaptation of Jessie Burton's novel. The Miniaturist tells the story of Petronella Oortman (Anya Taylor-Joy) an 18 year old woman married off to a wealthy sugar merchant, Johannes Brandt (Alex Hassell.)She has moved from the provinces to the thriving city of Amsterdam and living in her husband's household run by her initially severe sister in law Marin (Romola Garai) which has two servants.The house seems to contain secrets, her husband is rather reluctant to be with her but he does give her a dollhouse as a wedding gift. Petronella furnishes the doll house with miniature replicas that arrive as gifts. The miniaturist making the dolls may have a second sight as her real life replicas seems to betray what is being remain hidden in the household or maybe she has just observed what was there all along in plain sight.Petronella tries to adapt to her new life, but she is doing so without her husband's love yet he is pleasant to her.The series was gloomily lit to reflect Nella' mood. The photography and art direction are inspired by a Vermeer or Rembrandt painting. The series was unsure whether it was a supernatural drama with shades of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca or a story of a young woman being defiant as the household's dark secrets unfold but it did feel unsatisfying.

Very good series a lot going on in two episodes... which makes you glue to the screen

I agree with the reviewer below who said that the miniaturist served nothing. If the core of everything is the miniaturist (not the miniatures !), the film could be titled as "the miniaturist"; while the core of the film is the girl Nella! Why isn't it called "Nella and her myserious miniatures" or something like that? I've never read the book, so I'm not saying about the book; Watching the film. when I first saw Nella (who seemed quite center-character like) I thought SHE was the miniaturist (because the title is The Miniaturist) but then oh no the miniaturist is just a mysterious girl served nothing. On the other hand, Nella is strong and not religion-baffled like Marin(though she is sort of a feminist too). The characters are charming, though Johannes is really dumb-like (while Frans is played rather convincingly here).

It is insane, the miniaturist to which the series is titled has absolutely nothing to do with anything that happens. She is completely ineffective, nothing she does has any impact to the plot or the characters. She does not advise, warn, nothing, she only serves to create and additional, cruel and completely unnecessary added stress for the household, just as they deal with real crises, she just trolls them, then gives a wimpy excuse as to why she broke their balls for nothing.She is as useful as hindsight. However story is fine, dramatic with good but quite obvious lines.Also why did the former slave do nothing at all to save Johannes? Johannes saved him from slavery, then the former slave just stands there and watches him drown, jee great guy.