The Secret Of Moonacre

I loved this film. I didn't know anything about this except the trailer I saw.

13 year old Maria Merryweather's (Dakota Blue Richards - Lyra in The Golden Compass - feisty girl) father dies in debt, and she loses her home and is an orphan, she must go and live with her uncle Sir Benjamin (Ioan Gruffudd - he of The Fantastic Four), accompanied by her nanny (a very dowdy looking Juliet Stevenson) in his big mansion house - Moonacre Manor - that is falling apart in the beautiful countryside. Her father also laves her a book - The Secret of the Moonacre Valley which she starts to read. Her uncle is very moody and doesn't say much and certainly doesn't appear to like women. Her uncle takes the book away from her and puts it in the study, so Maria does not understand what is happening around her when she starts to see magical occurences.

Maria soon is exploring her environment and would inevitably happen, she discovers who she is and her reason for being there (she is the last Moon Princess) - with no help from her uncle. Maria must bring the two feuding families (Merryweathers and De Noirs) together and thrown the moon pearls back where they came from before the 5000th moon rises and Moonacre valley disappears into the sea forever. Maria takes to her quest and confronts baddies and the head De Noir (Tim Curry who still creeps me out as the Pennywise the Clown in It). She also meets Loveday, a De Noir (Natascha McElhone) along the way who was engaged to Sir Benjamin, and the reason for his moodiness.

Children will love it, girls probably more.

It was filmed in Hungary and is very olde worldy and beautiful cinematography. Oh to have a white unicorn and a black lion as companions.