9 Years Later, the Anya Taylor-Joy Thriller Everyone Missed Is Finally Available To Watch on Streaming

Published Aug 13, 2026, 7:21 AM EDT Anthony Crislip has always loved movies and television, and has been published in outlets such as SlashFilm and Ultimate Classic Rock. While working as a film programmer or judge at a film festival, he has striven to develop interest in underseen films. He is a particular fan of digging deep into forgotten corners of film history. While Sergio Gutiérrez Sánchez’s 2017 psychological thriller Marrowbone arrived early on in Anya Taylor-Joy’s career, it hasn't achieved the same acclaim as her other early works like Split, The Witch, or Thoroughbreds — but it doesn't deserve to be forgotten. Marrowbone is a rich family saga, with an almost apocalyptic sense of gloom about it — and a great cast including Taylor-Joy, George Mackay, Charlie Heaton, and Mia Goth (all just a year or two away from major breakthroughs). The Marrowbone family travels across the Atlantic to New England, where they stay in their dying mother’s estate, adopting her last name after suffering from the abuses of their father. All they know is each other, but on one lovely summer day they meet Allie (Taylor-Joy), a local librarian, friendly and warm. The movie is a Gothic “haunted house” story, with the dusty creepiness of the Marrowbone estate complemented by the siblings’ decision to stay in hiding (plus conversations about rabid animals and black mold spots). For the romantic midcentury tone the movie strikes in its opening, there’s also a stern warning from the siblings’ dying mother: “Have a safe place ready in case he finds you.” The movie is dark and moody, with a more sophisticated ghostly tone than you might expect from the premise, and an emphasis on familial trauma — secrets and lies hidden in the estate’s attic — that preceded the elevated horror of Hereditary by a year. With it now streaming for free on Xumo Play, it’s worth checking out. Anya Taylor-Joy Represents The Outside World in 'Marrowbone' Image via Universal Pictures Only oldest son Jack (Mackay) is allowed to take liberties to leave, which is how he meets Allie. Jack’s romantic connection to Allie stands in for the whole family’s desire to see her again. She effectively represents the entirety of the outside world, its possibilities and charms that the children are basically forbidden from experiencing. As Allie, Taylor-Joy creates a fantasy role, a more wholesome version of her Last Night in Soho character. (That ability to play the fantastical might explain why she got a role in a Lord of the Rings prequel.) With her loving personality, Allie seems to exist in a different reality than the grimy, scared world of the Marrowbone siblings, who work to maintain the fiction that their mother is still alive. Meanwhile, deep in the attic of the estate, dwells the alleged ghost of their father. Marrowbone is ultimately a movie about storytelling, and Allie’s position as a librarian and bibliophile means that she is uniquely qualified to play a part in those stories. The illusions that the characters live in and the lies they tell themselves are bolstered by a sweet and soaring orchestral score by Fernando Velázquez, and the traumas of the characters’ past are effectively undercut by the new life they’ve found together, removed from the myriad abuses they experienced under their father. Allie finds her way to the truth of the matter, slowly but surely uncovering the reality of the Marrowbones, and it’s far darker than she could have imagined. As the movie goes on, her own sweet worldview is pulled apart profoundly by her revelations. 'Marrowbone' Uses All of Its Tricks to Create a Powerful Illusion Besides the movie’s use of familial trauma to create a sense of horror and unease, another similarity to Hereditary is its use of the family home. Sergio Gutiérrez Sánchez’s ability to build Marrowbone around the house — its rusted gate, overgrown ivy, and shattered mirrors — plays a huge role in the impression the movie creates. Like Hereditary, there’s long shots from floor to ceiling that are oppressive and stultifying. Jack’s occasional taste of freedom is never enough to make you forget the world the family lives in. And Mia Goth, just a couple years away from creating two iconic horror characters with 2022’s X and its prequel Pearl, emphasizes this the most with her performance. Constantly holding onto little brother Sam (Matthew Stagg), her own motherly nature begins to look defensive and isolated. The movie’s sense of its era also helps to create the tension between midcentury Americana and horror melodrama. In Marrowbone's elaborate production design, viewers get a sense of the darkness underlining its pretty facade, and the performances feel comfortably mannered as well. While Anya Taylor-Joy’s film career began with The Witch, a movie set in 17th century New England, she’s one of those rare actors who can work in just about any era, from 50 years ago to tens of millennia in the future with Dune: Part Two. Her slight 1960s demeanor fits perfectly with the caring naivete with which she approaches the Marrowbone lore. But the movie’s illusion-making comes to an end eventually, as its sharp truths slowly come to light.