The Awakening

Not to be confused with a dramatization of Kate Chopin’s great 1899 proto-feminist novel, this by-the-numbers British ghost story, set just after WWI, devotes a lot of energy to set decoration. A professional hoax exposer (Rebecca Hall) rethinks her skepticism as she pursues spectral sightings at a traditionally gloomy boarding school for traditionally sad lads. Dominic West personifies the melancholia of a country overwhelmed by death. As the house matron, Imelda Staunton embodies the spirit of lady thespians always up for a role requiring hair in a bun. B-