Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)

IMDb plot summary: A medium and her husband stage a kidnapping in order for her to pretend to solve the crime and achieve fame.

Directed by Bryan Forbes. Starring Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough, and Margaret Lacey.

Seance on a Wet Afternoon follows a British woman who believes she can communicate with the dead and her doting husband, who appears skeptical of her abilities but supports her wholeheartedly. The two of them plan to kidnap a wealthy man's child so that the woman can pretend to solve the mystery with her powers to launch her into fame. I'd never heard of this movie before I came across it as part of a personal film challenge, and it was a wonderful surprise. It has a very Hitchockian feel to it, in that it takes advantage of the quietly building tension naturally built into this situation and the characters in it. It unfolds slowly until it all culminates is a finale that is both suspenseful and heartbreaking. The performances by Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough as the couple are also both really great, full of nuance amid what could have been more cartoonish characterization. I could have watched these two interacting for another hour, easily. This is definitely one I'll be recommending to others frequently!

How it entered my Flickchart:

Seance on a Wet Afternoon > My Week With Marilyn

Seance on a Wet Afternoon > Anna Karenina

Seance on a Wet Afternoon < Secretary

Seance on a Wet Afternoon > The Farewell

Seance on a Wet Afternoon > The Fabelmans

Seance on a Wet Afternoon < Black Panther

Seance on a Wet Afternoon > The Royal Tenenbaums

Seance on a Wet Afternoon < Romy and Michele's High School Reunion

Seance on a Wet Afternoon > Smashed

Seance on a Wet Afternoon > I Heart Huckabees

Seance on a Wet Afternoon > A Letter to Three Wives

Final spot: #545 out of 3768, or 86%.