It feels like lockdown in 19th-century fancy dress.

It's deadly dull, clogged with all kinds of string and piano music and sunk by a perplexingly lifeless performance by Dakota Fanning as Gray.

Fanning's controlled presence is ideal for a tale of Victorian repression. But as the film becomes one of quiet liberation, it needs more than her cool reserve.

Despite the excellent cast, they cannot make this fascinating story interesting to watch.