Letterboxd — Your life in film

Moonfleet undercuts the expectations of its children’s adventure plot through a series of memento mori that pervades the film’s atmosphere with an uncanny sense of dread. By selecting a few moments which stood out on this viewing, I hope to perhaps shed some light on a truly mysterious film.

Early on in the film, John Mohune passes out and wakes up to see faces of smugglers looking at him from above in a semi-circle. The human face comes across as…