cast of nancy drew and the hidden staircase

But the teens and tweens at whom this one is aimed won't knock off points for the not-so-mysterious whodunit. Shrewd viewers will stay a step ahead of the proceedings by recalling the 'Law of Economy of Characters' from Roger Ebert's Glossary of Movie Terms, and keeping in mind that in Hollywood the term 'developer' usually comes with an implied 'evil' in front of it. (Flora's description of the escalating weirdness includes a perfectly apt line on experiencing supernatural phenomena: 'After that things just stop making sense.') The case tosses Nancy together with 'frenemy' Helen (Laura Slade Wiggins, ' 20 th Century Women'), and their gradual thawing toward one another feels like a refreshingly honest mapping of the bumpy geography of teenage friendships and social cliques.Īs was the case with the Nancy Drew books, the mystery here isn't too challenging. The town's quirky grande-dame is being menaced by nightly goings-on that include disturbing noises, ghostly intrusions, and other unsettling phenomena.

The film hews fairly closely to the book for its plot points: Nancy investigates an alleged haunting at Twin Elms, the gaudily-decorated mansion of the eccentric Flora (Linda Lavin, 'How to Be a Latin Lover'). Dad Carson Drew (Sam Trammell, 'True Blood') is a lawyer who fights for underdog social causes, and Hannah the trusty housekeeper from the book series is now Aunt Hannah (Andrea Anders, 'Instant Family'), a confidante to Nancy since her mother's death.

Now the plucky teen detective is back on the big screen, in ' Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase.' Sophia Lillis, who delivered a breakout performance in 2017's ' It,' is a likeably feisty Nancy with an appropriately modern edge: she gets around by skateboard, finds her way in the dark thanks to her iPhone flashlight, and conspires with pals George (Zoe Renee) and Bess (Mackenzie Graham) to give the school bully a technology-driven dose of comeuppance.

Cast of nancy drew and the hidden staircase