Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase Blu-ray Review
Sophia Lillis carries “Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase.”
“Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.”
An important character in literary history has been modernized for a new generation with 2019’s new film “Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase.” The film (which is an adaptation of the book of the same name) finds the titular super sleuth in the small town of River Heights having to solve a mystery involving an elderly woman’s potentially haunted home, Nancy’s missing father, and an individual (or individuals?) desperately wanting the town to have a train. How is everything connected? That’s up to Nancy Drew (and the audience) to find out.
Nancy Drew is one of those seminal characters that has stood the test of time so it was only a matter of time before someone brought the character into the modern era for a potential franchise. WB, to their credit, couldn’t have found a better star to step into the role of the iconic character than Sophia Lillis (the breakout actress from “IT: Chapter One”). While supporting cast members like Mackenzie Graham and Laura Slade Wiggins turn in solid performances as Nancy’s friends Bess and Helen, it is Lillis who elevates the movie. The rising star makes Nancy a complete character with such a charming, personable and naturalistic performance. We really get to see all sides of Nancy through this origin story as she goes from a bit of a troublemaker to some who uses her knowledge, intelligence, and curiosity to save the day. Yes, some of that is a credit to the writers Nina Fiore and John Herrera obviously, but Lillis has to bring out that journey through her acting as well.
In terms of the actual movie, it’s a pretty standard mystery tale. The script has a carefully plotted mystery narrative mixed in with a more hip and modern feel to appeal to a younger demo (Nancy now skateboards for instance). It also feels like the writers put in shades of “Scooby-Doo” and “Sherlock” as well. Director Katt Shea doesn’t bring much to the table here as the movie looks and feels cheap and looks visual style. Still, she does coax quality performances from Lillis and the cast so she was successful in that respect.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p. How does it look? Even with the bland cinematography, this is a quality hi-def transfer.
Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? This 5.1 track does the job.
Extras:
* DVD copy
* Digital copy
* A 3 minute gag reel.
* “A Sleuth, A Girl, And An Inspiration”- A featurette that contains interviews, film clips, story and character discussions, talks about the legacy of “Nancy Drew,” etc.
* “Pink Footprints: Touring Twin Elms”- A tour of Flora’s house in the film.
* Warner Bros. trailers
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