Trakt has _WHALITC_ listed as mystery, thriller, and horror... it is none of those. This is barely a drama. It feels like a mystery, but what makes a mystery is having a buildup to a large reveal at the end - that's not here.
I wanted to see this because I like Daddario, and Farmiga, which is fortunate because they are the focus of the film; trouble is, the movie is really just two sisters living in a house for a week. That's it.
I read through the other "reviews" here - if you can call them that - and most of them boil down to "come on guys, the movie's good. Okay?" While that is a great point, I still found the movie boring. I'd want to call it a slow burn, but there is never a burn - not even when the house is on fire.
I also understand that this is based on a book. I have never read the book, and, surprise, I don't have to. The point of an adaptation is to make it entertaining in the given format (e.g., a movie).
I'll move on to the direction/acting here: The movie does have a great, creepy gothic feel to it; trouble is, being that this is set in the 1960s, but in a small town, and centered around sisters who seem frozen in time, it just feels anachronistic.
Okay, the acting is good, but Daddario is really not the right person for the role: she's playing her part like a traumatized Stepford wife.
The real star here is Farmiga: she's so awkward and weird - seriously, put her in a black dress, and she's Wednesday Addams.
Everyone else is just kind of there.
This is another one of those movies that feels like it wanted to be a stage play.
Ultimately, it just doesn't work. There is no story.