Home is Where the Magic is

Move over, Harry Potter – this other world of fantasy is bound to sweep magic lovers off their feet with its unconventional storytelling.

By Angelica Chong

Black-and-white photographs, which look slightly vaudeville and hint at the supernatural, are carefully intertwined in Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

The book opens with Jacob Portman (Asa Butterfield) as a child, and whose grandfather often shares stories of gifted orphans who live on an island. Years later, Jacob, now a teenager, visits that same island after the death of his grandfather, who’s rumored to have been murdered by a mysterious mythical creature.

Along the way, Jacob discovers that he has the ability to enter the world and witness the talents of the orphans, who live under the care of Miss Peregrine (Eva Green), who has powers of her own.

However, the presence of bloodthirsty creatures called ‘hollows’ threatens their existence, and it is up to Jacob and his newfound friends to rid the curious little world of these monsters before they are eradicated first.

This haunting tale will be adapted for the silver screen with the film directed by Tim Burton. Burton has directed several dark films with a hint of comedy, namely The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Big Fish (2003), Corpse Bride (2005) and Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Despite the novel being void of color, Burton’s adaptation will see bright bursts of summer hues akin to Alice’s Wonderland – especially in and around the orphanage.

“I just want to see how Burton incorporates the pictures from the novel into the movie, and how he interprets the living and the dead,” said Noah Liu, 19, a final year Optometry student.

Readers of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will notice that Emma Bloom (Ella Purnell), Jacob’s love interest, does not possess the power to wield fire in the movie.

“I’m quite excited to see how they are going to tweak the story around it since Emma’s powers are pretty important to the plot and action sequences,” said Nur Fazilah bte Mohd Fazil, 19, an Electrical Engineering student.

The movie hits cinemas Sep 30.

Check out the trailer below.

Photo Credit: Leah Gallo