The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
The Skeleton Key
Drama · Horror · Mystery · 2005
A hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past.
Movie details
The Skeleton Key
“Fearing is believing.”
2005 Drama · Horror · Mystery 1h 44m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.6 / 10
Community rating
A hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Skeleton Key?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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What Lies Beneath
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The Others
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Grace is a woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions.
The Ritual
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Two priests, one in crisis with his faith and the other confronting a turbulent past, must overcome their differences to perform a risky exorcism.
Interview with the Vampire
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A vampire relates his epic life story of love, betrayal, loneliness, and dark hunger to an over-curious reporter.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Iain Softley
Written by
Ehren Kruger
Kate Hudson
Caroline Ellis
Gena Rowlands
Violet Devereaux
Peter Sarsgaard
Luke Marshall
John Hurt
Ben Devereaux
Joy Bryant
Jill
M
Marion Zinser
Bayou Woman
Maxine Barnett
Mama Cynthia
Court is in session
Put The Skeleton Key on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.