Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase

The titular second book about the intrepid girl detective created as a counterpart to the Hardy Boys was written by Mildred Benson but first published under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene in 1930. Understandably, the story has been radically altered and updated in Katt Shea’s modern adaptation, but the action still revolves around a spunky, often reckless girl who will go to great lengths to protect her friends, right wrongs, and solve mysteries—in this case the apparent haunting of an old mansion. Nancy, played by Sophia Lillis, has recently moved to California from Chicago with her dad, Carson (Sam Trammell). Nancy bonds with a couple of her classmates, and gets into trouble for taking vengeance on the campus bully who posted a cruel cartoon of one of them on the Internet. Approached by eccentric spinster Flora (Linda Lavin) to help around the house, Nancy learns that the old lady thinks the place is haunted and Nancy enlists her friends to investigate what might be behind weird noises and apparitions. Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase feels like a movie made for a kid-oriented cable channel, but it is energized by Lillis’s performance, and will certainly appeal to its target audience of ‘tween girls. Recommended. (F. Swietek)