Now Showing: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Amelie Lee, Asst. Feature Editor

With days that replay indefinitely and ideas that blur the line between reality and fantasy, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” is a film filled with mystical adventures that will leave viewers intrigued.

Based on the best selling novel by Ransom Riggs, Tim Burton’s interpretation of the movie brings a story of misfits and magic with impressive design. Despite its beautiful and eerie landscapes, the movie’s absence of diversity in the cast and lack of emotional depth left me disappointed leaving the theatre.

True to the novel it blossomed from, the film centers around a young boy named Jake (played by Asa Butterfield who discovers a very perplexing children’s home on a mysterious island after his grandfather’s death. Upon coming across a “time loop” that refreshes every day to Sept. 3, 1940, Jake soon discovers that the children’s home is where a set of “peculiar” children live, each with their own bizarre “peculiarity.”

He meets a baffling group of kids, including a sweet red-headed girl named Olive who can set things on fire with her hands, a small invisible boy named Millard, and Emma, a girl who is lighter than air and seems to have taken a liking to Jake. The children are watched over by the elusive Miss Peregrine played by Eva Green, a strict but loving caretaker who can transform into a bird.

Throughout the film, I was fascinated by how each character’s individual peculiarity played into the plot, and how well the film portrayed some of the more unfathomable character traits so intricately described in the novel.

Burton, known for the films, “Edward Scissorhands” and ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas”, displays his talent for creating beautiful gothic visuals, with the wonderfully executed design of every character fitting their descriptions and leaving viewers more than a little creeped out.

However, behind the meticulously designed characters, there was not much substance behind the plot of the story. Like a cliche children’s story, the main conflict seemed to revolves around a singular stereotypical evil villain, who is intent on hurting peculiars to gain immortality–and the only source of racial diversity in the movie.

While the talents and design of each character were stunningly diverse, the cast itself was devoid of such variety, with Samuel L. Jackson being the only non-white cast member in the entire movie. Burton has long been criticized for his lack of racial representation, and “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” does not stray from the path.

With so much of the movie painting a detailed picture of every peculiar character, there was little time to develop a well-thought out plot. The movie wrapped up its conflicts with one 20 minute fight scene that tied up every loose end neatly. Character development was limited and the interactions between the characters failed to be meaningful.

Despite this, I was fascinated by the family-like relationship between Miss Peregrine and her children, but unfortunately it was brushed off with only a scene or two depicting their bond. To my disappointment, the only character relationship that the movie really took the time to explore was the budding romance between Jake and Emma.

Despite its stunning and otherworldly visual appeal, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” brings nothing more to the table than a simple children’s movie that does not take the opportunity to delve into the deeper connections.