Review: Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase is Refreshingly Old Fashioned

This isn’t the first time Nancy Drew has come to life. Since the girl detective character first appeared in 1930, there have been half a dozen movies and a ’70s TV show with the Hardy Boys (which included a young Shaun Cassidy), but her last big screen outing was in 2007, when she was played by Emma Roberts in a post-modern affair that saw small-town Nancy bring her detective act to the big city. Now, produced by Ellen Degeneres and played by the breakout star of 2017’s It, Sophia Lillis, she returns again in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase and she doesn’t seem a day over 17.

Adapted from Mildred Wirt Benson’s 1930 novel of the same name by co-writers Nina Fiore and John Herrera, the film shows us early that this is a Nancy Drew for a new generation. This Nancy is a Chicago girl newly transplanted to her father’s (Sam Trammell) small hometown of River Heights after her mother’s death. We first see her skateboarding, free and happy, until her friend George (Zoe Renee) enlists her to comfort their friend Bess (Mackenzie Graham) after she gets cyber-bullied. Not only does Nancy quickly uncover the culprit, she soon hatches a revenge plot that lands her with community service time. Luckily, that service also brings her in contact with Flora (Linda Lavin), an older woman in town who believes she’s being haunted.

If that sounds like a lot to take in, it is. The film–especially in its first half hour–has to get through a lot of business and quite a few scenes feel a little heavy-handed in their messaging or exposition. When Nancy balks at her father’s anger over the revenge scheme, her aunt Hannah (Andrea Anders) sets out the emotional stakes by describing her brother’s state of mind for both Nancy and us. The same goes for the way we see Nancy use her observation skills to deduce the cyberbully’s identity, the camera movements and framing choices practically leading us by the hand. While the latter scene works better than the former, the whole movie unfortunately suffers from a lack of finesse. While director Katt Shea (The Rage: Carrie 2) is making everything abundantly clear for the children in the audience, it frequently feels like the film is talking down.

However, while Shea’s visual and storytelling choices leave something to be desired, it’s the performances she gets from the universally excellent cast that make the movie work. Every actor is perfectly suited to their roles. Lavin is lovably flighty and eccentric as Aunt Flora, able to sell the idea that a character who was once a burlesque dancer could also turn into a woman with a pink lawn. Anders (of the late, great Better Off Ted) as Aunt Hannah is smart-talking yet clearly has her own life outside of watching her delinquent niece—a vision of the kind of adult Nancy could become. Still, good as the grown ups are, they’re seasoned pros and it’s likely Shea didn’t have to do much work with them. Rather, it’s what she gets out of the younger actors that’s most impressive.

There’s Graham as Bess, a girl who beautifully executes an arc of finding self-confidence in very little screentime. There’s Laura Wiggins (an adult convincingly playing a teenager) as popular older girl, Helen Corning, who starts off as a mean-girl antagonist but softens to reveal multitudes as she and Nancy work to help Flora. Each girl feels like a full person and the camaraderie Shea captures amongst them feels real too. They’re playful with each other (like when Nancy makes Bess nervous by pretending she’ll drop a dangerous chemical compound), but they’re also supportive, like when George encourages Bess to feel confident in her looks. Still, while the film’s view of supportive female friendships is really wonderful for young audiences to see, there are times when the girls are almost too clever for their age. Hearing Nancy tell Helen she’ll “pony up” without the latter seeming a little confused reads false and even more troubling, the kids’ understanding of adult-level emotions can seem a little too easy.

That said, the only reason the movie actually gets away with it all is because of Lillis’s performance. We understand that losing her mother young would have matured Nancy at an early age, but Lillis makes that ring true in the emotional maturity and confidence she conveys. In a way similar to what made young Debra Winger compelling, there’s an unselfconscious freedom to Lillis’s movements and demeanor. She’s gangly and athletic in a way seemingly divorced from gender expectations. And while that “cool girl” persona sometimes serves to critique Helen in ways that feel outdated, it’s mostly a wonderful thing for kids to see.

Nancy Drew has always been a role model for young girls and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase only reinforces that wholesome image. Despite not always following the rules, this version of Nancy is good and smart and her every word and action is directed by her moral compass. She knows that she has to do something to stop her friend from being bullied and later, she’s mature enough to admit that revenge isn’t always the same as justice. It may not be sexy and modern, but in a world where Riverdale‘s Archie Andrews gets arrested for murder and Betty Cooper was a cam girl, that old fashioned wholesomeness is refreshing.

Rating: 7/10

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase hits theaters nationwide on March 15.