The great Helen Mirren takes a break from playing either royalty or assassins to take on the real-life role of Sarah Winchester, the widow of William Winchester, a member of the family responsible for the Winchester rifle, in the new movie (of course) Winchester. In the story Sarah is still grieving after the death of her husband, channeling that grief into the endless construction of her San Jose mansion, which she believes is occupied by the ghosts of those killed by the weapons manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
While most think her mad for her obsessive work on the house sans direction or overall vision, she believes its hundreds of rooms are necessary. Alongside her are her niece (Sarah Snook) and Eric Price (Jason Clarke), the doctor looking after Sarah as she seems to descend deeper into madness. The movie takes Sarah’s conviction she’s being haunted and makes it literal, turning the story into one of a massive, imposing, chaotic haunted house that was built to house ghosts who are no longer content being locked up.
Cinematic Slant 