A place for all the weirdoes to be different; how nice!
Perhaps some of you have already read the novel upon which this film’s based. But just in case you haven’t yet, you should endeavour to see the film and get it all at once. “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” is a 2016 fantasy film directed by prolific Film Director Tim Burton. It is a visually stunning and bizarre film, depicting some of the strangest (yet captivating) things you might have ever seen on your big screen. One thing is definitely guaranteed- Goosebumps! But you will love it all the same.
Now here is to tantalize you- Jake Portman (played by Asa Butterfield), journeys to his grandfather’s childhood home off the coast of Wales in Britain. All along his grandfather has told him of the children he once knew when he was little, each with their peculiarities. So he might as well reconnect and find out more about these childhood friends. This resolve would put Jake on the interesting mission of unraveling the mystery behind Miss Peregrine (another fascinating character played by Eva Green) and her home for children. He discovers that he is more connected to these peculiar children’ stories than he ever thought he was.
The film shares some of the book’s complex content and themes, including death and the yearning to belong characteristic of teenagehood. These, plus the movie’s overwhelming feeling of creepiness, make it just as fascinating for teenagers. There are battle scenes with weapons (explosives, arrows, and more), mayhem, and death. It will certainly scare you but at least you will like the feeling. Now mind you, this film is not especially gory; the tone is just pretty dark enough to appeal to teenagers’ yarn for fantasy. There’s that talk of a dead child that is sure to excitingly scare the sh** out of you in the dark, and then there are the evil characters who are very menacing. Pointers- these evil characters eat other creatures to survive, and characters are shown eating eyeballs…. Okay that’s enough; let me not scare you even before you get to watch it. But if you are a fan of fantasy/dark thrills then you should definitely. Running underneath all the creepy stuff is the message that being different doesn’t make you a misfit; it simply means that you’re unique and gifted in your own way. Also, the characters in the film demonstrate courage, curiosity, and integrity…good values every teen should emulate.
For further reading, I hereby quote this review from Wikipedia. Enjoy please.
“As a child, Jacob Portman listened to his grandfather, Abraham’s stories about living with peculiar children in a special orphanage run by Miss Peregrine. As Jacob grows older, he doubts the stories until he visits his injured and dying grandfather and witnesses a strange, humanoid creature only he can see. Abraham tells Jacob to “… find the bird in the loop on the other side of the old man’s grave on September 1940, and tell them what happened.” No one believes Jacob’s account of an invisible monster with tentacle-like tongues. His parents take him to Dr. Golan, a psychiatrist, who suggests that Jacob go to Wales, the location of his grandfather’s orphanage. Jacob finds the orphanage deserted, so he seeks information from the local people, including workers at the Cairnholm Museum.
During another search of the orphanage, Jacob encounters a mysterious girl whom he follows and questions. They reach the bogs before Jacob realizes that the inn and people are quite different. The drunken patrons are suspicious and chase Jacob. The girl, Emma Bloom, and an invisible boy named Millard Nullings rescue Jacob and escape with him to Miss Peregrine’s orphanage. There Jacob is introduced to other peculiar children. Bronwyn Bruntley has amazing strength and Claire Densmore has a mouth at the back of her head. Emma and Millard tell Jacob they exist in a time loop, reliving the same day forever due to Miss Peregrine, who is an Ymbryne. Ymbrynes can create time loops. She explains that hollowgasts — humanoid, tentacle-mouthed creatures like the one that killed Jacob’s grandfather — are a threat to all Ymbryne-run orphanages. Miss Peregrine tells Jacob, that he, like his grandfather, has the ability to see the hollowgasts.
Jacob notices that the peculiar children use their powers to entertain crowds. He meets Enoch O’Connor, who uses hearts from other creatures to temporarily restore life. Enoch introduces Jacob to Victor, who lies dead in his bed, killed by a hollowgast many years before. The wights, who have evolved from hollowgasts, hunger for power from the peculiars. Jacob, Emma, Bronwyn, Enoch, and Millard go into an ice house where a deceased man, Martin, lies inside a lidless ice coffin. Enoch uses a sheep heart to briefly bring Martin back to life. Martin tells them that a wight killed him. A wight then appears behind them and reveals that he is Dr. Golan. Jacob decides to stay in the time loop so that he and his companions can escape from Dr. Golan. They make their way back to the orphanage, but discover that Dr. Golan has kidnapped Miss Peregrine.
Dr. Golan warns them not to attempt to rescue Miss Peregrine. Jacob and his friends believe he is bluffing and follow him. When they find Dr. Golan near a lighthouse, he shoots Millard. They see Miss Peregrine and Miss Avocet, another Ymbrynem, in their bird forms and trapped in a cage. Jacob and Emma follow Dr. Golan. When they corner him, he throws the cage into the sea. Jacob shoots him, and Golan falls into the darkness. Jacob and Emma follow the bird cage underwater and see a U-boat. They recover the cage and bring Miss Peregrine back to shore, but Miss Avocet is captured by the wights and taken away on the U-boat. Jacob and his companions realize that Miss Peregrine cannot change back into human form. Returning to the orphanage, they find it destroyed, leaving them having to track down the wights and discover how to help Miss Peregrine. Jacob travels back to the present to say goodbye to his father, but promises to return when his mission is finished. Jacob and his companions set sail to track down the wights.”
