Tim Burton is back, as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has been enjoying a spectacular (or should I say, spectral) run at the box office. This has led to another Burton-helmed film, Miss Peregine’s Home for Peculiar Children, to climb the global Netflix charts. It’s not hard to see why: Miss Peregine‘s contains the visual flair and the off-kilter premise that’s populated much of Burton’s filmography. It also stars Ella Purnell, who’s been carving out a hot streak in shows including Yellowjackets, Fallout and Sweetpea, in a main role. But when it premiered in theaters eight years ago, Miss Peregrine‘s was met with mixed reviews and a soft box office opening. What exactly led to this reception?
What Is ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ About?
Based on the novel by Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children begins when Jake Portman (Asa Butterfield) finds his grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp) dying, with his eyes having been violently removed. In order to find closure, Jake travels to London to find “the loop of September 3, 1943,” which were Abe’s last words to him. There, he encounters Miss Alma LeFay Peregrine (Eva Green), one of the “Peculiars” his grandfather had told him stories about. Miss Peregrine and the other “Peculiars” have been hiding from monstrous “Hollows” via a loop in time that takes place in September 3, 1943. Jake starts connecting with the other Peculiars, including Emma Bloom (Purnell), a Peculiar that he starts a romantic relationship with.
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Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children can best be described as “Addams Family meets X-Men,” with the former’s gothic structure evident in the set design and clothing choices, while the latter’s use of superhuman abilities as a metaphor for adolescence informs the bulk of the story. Burton also assembles quite the talented cast for Miss Peregrine‘s; Green brings a sense of mystery, along with a pinch of danger to her performance as Miss Peregrine while Samuel L. Jackson cuts a terrifying figure as Mr. Frederick “Fred” Barron, the Hollows’ leader. It’s the dynamic between Butterfield and Purnell which ends up carrying the film, though: there’s genuine chemistry between their characters, while other young adult adaptations mostly rely on their protagonists being stereotypically attractive to sell a romantic angle. The scene where Emma shows Jake her Peculiar ability isn’t just awe-inspiring, but it also has the air of a kid sharing a special moment with his crush…just that said crush has the ability to float on air. Ironically, this is a wild divergence from the source material.
Ella Purnell’s Character in ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ Is Different in the Book
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children mostly follows the plot of the novel it’s based on, with a few key differences. One of the biggest changes concerns Emma and fellow Peculiar Olive (Lauren McCrostie). In the movie version of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Emma is able to float, but has to wear weighted shoes to make sure she can move without flying into the pull of gravity. Likewise, Olive is pyrokinetic and wears gloves out of fear that she’ll burn everything she touches. This is the reverse of the novel: Emma is the pyrokinetic and Olive has the floating ability. This also changes how Emma’s abilities are displayed during the film; in the novel, she doesn’t utilize her powers until the time is right, while the movie takes any chance it gets to show off her “floating ability.” She also has the ability to manipulate air itself, which means she can actually take part in the film’s final fight against Golan.
That fight contains what might be the film’s biggest change. In the novel, Jacob is able to beat Golan and save Miss Peregrine with the help of the Peculiar kids, though Peregrine remains stuck in her bird form. The movie turns this into an action-packed VFX-stuffed climax, and Peregrine is able to shift back into human form with ease. Another massive change concerns Peregrine’s fellow headmistress, Miss Esmeralda Avocet (Judi Dench). She is fatally wounded by Golan during the final fight of the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children film, but in the novel she’s merely abducted, leading to the next book in the series, Hollow City. Burton discussed the changes in a Bustle interview, noting that Riggs “was very good and very understanding” with what shifted from page to screen. “You don’t want to piss off the writer if you can help it,” he said.
‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ Hit Theaters During a Rough Patch for Tim Burton
While Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children might have had a unique premise, it premiered when Tim Burton’s films weren’t receiving the critical praise and box office that they used to. Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows were both panned. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children also came at a time when the YA genre was on the downslope; Harry Potter and The Hunger Games had both concluded their respective runs and left a shadow that most films struggled to get out of. In addition to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, 2016 also saw the release of The 5th Wave, The Divergent Series: Allegiant and A Monster Calls. All three films bombed at the box office, while A Monster Calls was the only YA adaptation to receive largely positive reviews. While positive reviews for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children focused on how Burton let his unique vision shine on the screen, the negative ones drew less-than-flattering comparisons to the X-Men films.
Ella Purnell Had a Great Experience Working With Tim Burton
One person who has fond memories of working on Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is Ella Purnell herself. Purnell described the process of working with Burton during FanExpo Chicago, likening him to a mad scientist:
“He is the best guy. I haven’t seen him for ages, probably not since we did Miss Peregrine’s. But he’s like a mad scientist. He’s got such vision, and his thinking space is up here, so he’ll never make eye-contact with you because he’s thinking all the time. He just pulls these things together, and it’s all just in his mind’s eye. It’s amazing to watch him work.”
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children might be enjoying a reappraisal due to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s success, but it is still a film worth watching for Ella Purnell’s performance and Tim Burton’s unique visual style. This is no mere X-Men clone.
- Release Date
-
September 30, 2016
- Cast
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Asa Butterfield
, Raffiella Chapman
, Milo Parker
, Rupert Everett
, Kim Dickens
, O-Lan Jones
, Allison Janney
, Terence Stamp
, Samuel L. Jackson
, Ella Wahlestedt
, Eva Green
, Ella Purnell
, judi dench
, Chris O’Dowd - Runtime
-
127 minutes
- Writers
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Jane Goldman
- Budget
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$110 million
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is available to watch on Disney+ in the U.S.
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