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Skeleton Key, TheNew Orleans, Louisiana, the bayous. These parts of America have such an evocative reputation they're an ideal setting for stories that are a bit creepy, or weird, or just plain sweaty. The Skeleton Key is prime Southern Gothic. It's not an especially great film, but it does take advantage of the setting effectively. Kate Hudson's protagonist Caroline, a care worker, becomes embroiled in a scenario that involves a big ol' house, a dark history, hoodoo (magic that blends African, European and Native American beliefs into something that supposedly "can't hurt you if you don't believe in it"), rising swamp waters and plenty of trees swathed in epiphytes.
Sickened by the lack of compassion to be found in the New Orleans OAP home where she works, Caroline declares, "I've had enough of this place" and applies for a job out in the sticks to the north of the city. Arriving at a large house in the swamps, she meets Luke (Sarsgaard), a lawyer who's working on the contents of the estate for its owner, Violet Devereux (Rowlands). Somewhat cantankerous, Violet nevertheless takes Caroline on to help look after her husband Ben (Hurt), who has apparently been almost entirely paralysed by a stroke and isn't expected to live long. ("Docs figure a month maybe. He's pretty far gone.")
Settling Caroline in, Violet gives her the titular key, as the house has "more than 30 rooms". There seems to be one room in the attic, however, that the key doesn't open. What's more, Ben was in the attic when he was debilitated. Something is not right in the house.
Caroline is an interesting character - she's not exactly a sympathetic heroine as she's curious to the point of nosiness. Some would call her plucky, but her determination to get to the bottom of what happened to Ben, and also the mysterious history of the house, is somewhat pushy.
British director Ian Softly (Backbeat, K-PAX) and writer Ehren Kruger (Scream 3, the US Ring movies) challenge Hudson to make her character compelling and likeable. She's given some character depth; her obsession with helping old men arises from her guilt about failing to be there for her own dying father, but mostly she's just a motor for the plot.
The plot takes on more significance after you've experienced the film's denouement. To go into any depth here would ruin the surprise, but suffice to say, during its running time the film has some turgid patches and it's a sadly undignified endeavour for John Hurt. However, once it's over, it resolves itself as crafty, intriguing and about as thought-provoking as an averagely shallow piece of mainstream Hollywood entertainment can be. Kudos goes to Kruger for contriving such a neat variation on the often tiresome notion of a climactic twist. Some smarties might say they see it coming, but it's still more effective than anything M Night Shyamalan has mustered lately.
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