SECOND COUSIN
SAM CLAFLIN LOOKS THE PART IN A NEW VERSION OF DU MAURIER’S SUSPENSE-FILLED STORY
FILMS
WORDS: GUY LODGE
“Call that a picnic. I’m gonna starve!”
FYI
Injury cut short Sam’s dreams of being a footballer. He went on to play ill-fated football star Duncan Edwards in United
FILM OF THE MONTH
MY COUSIN RACHEL
Sam Claflin, Rachel Weisz, Holliday Grainger, Iain Glen
Start watching for the lusciously lit shots of Sam Claflin in snug 19th-century riding breeches, stay watching for the psychosexual intrigue — Roger Michell’s elegant adaptation of the classic Daphne du Maurier puzzler delivers handsomely on both counts. As a young Cornish land heir, alternately suspicious of and besotted by Rachel, the widow of his mysteriously deceased cousin, Claflin doesn’t quite match the stormy presence of Richard Burton, who played the lead in the original 1952 film version. Still, his puppy-dog sincerity brings a shot of warmth to an otherwise chilly game of did-she-or-didn’t-she, while as Rachel, a beguiling, ideally cast Weisz keeps matters coolly ambiguous right to the very end. Michell’s lean, slinky screenplay does justice to one of du Maurier’s more teasing stories; it’s a supremely well-tailored cloak-and-dagger piece. 9 June