From Time to Time is a 2009 British fantasy drama film directed by Julian Fellowes starring Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, Carice van Houten, Alex Etel, Eliza Bennett, Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh, Dominic West, Hugh Bonneville, and Pauline Collins. It was adapted from Lucy M. Boston's children's novel The Chimneys of Green Knowe (1958). The film was shot in Athelhampton Hall, Dorset.
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Plot
Near the end of World War II, teenager Tolly gets picked up at the railway station by Mr. Boggis. When he starts to make mention of the boy's soldier father David, Tolly quickly points out he has only been reported missing in action and not confirmed dead.
Tolly has taken the train from Manchester to spend Christmas at his grandmother's large country estate in Cambridgeshire, Green Knowe. Tolly's mother has gone to London awaiting more information about David. His grandmother, Mrs. Oldknow, disapproved of her son's marriage and once, out of anger, wrote a meanly worded letter viewing his wife as a commoner. She regrets having written the letter, as she admits she does not know her well.
Mrs. Oldknow tells Tolly she is financially strapped, so is faced with possibly selling Green Knowe. He is adamant she not sell. She tells him about Mariah van Raymer, Thomas Oldknow's wife, who had almost brought them to ruin in the 1800s with her gambling and extravagant spending.
On Tolly's first night at Green Knowe, his grandmother tells Tolly about their ancestors. They are descended from Thomas and Mariah's eldest, a boy, Seftan. In the evening he sees and hears a ghostly young girl. His grandmother confirms it must have been Susan, the blind daughter of Lord Thomas Oldknow.
The next day, as he is climbing a tree, he hears a girl and an adolescent boy giggling and finds an old spur hidden in a hollow. His grandmother recognises it as belonging to Seftan. Butler John Caxton, wary of the African boy Jacob that Captain Oldknow brought home as a companion, as he had stowed away on his ship to avoid being sold at auction.
Soon after, Tolly discovers that he magically time travels between the present and the early 19th century in the old manor house. Certain people in that time can see and communicate with him, while he remains invisible to others.
Susan can speak to Tolly both in her time and his. He learns that his grandmother also sees the ancestral ghosts. Susan leads him on an adventure that unlocks family secrets buried for generations. One exciting event includes a terrible fire, by which Fred saves Susan and Mr. Caxton takes off with the family jewels during the fire. It also includes Sefton threatening to sell Fred to be sold into a press gang. Thomas fires Mr. Caxton because of this and tells Sexton he is ashamed of him.
The lost treasure is eventually found by Tolly, with the help from Susan. She also confirms it was John Caxton who was responsible for the fire It was more likely that he perished in the fire. So, Green Knowe is saved, but Tolly's father is a casualty of the war. Mrs. Oldknow finally welcomes Tolly's mother into the family. Tolly is told that Susan then Jacob both died of a childhood disease. Tolly is comforted when his father's ghost appears, assuring him everything will be all right.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 43% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. Tom Huddleston of Time Out described the film as "an emotionally wise but logically skewed children's tale", the logical inconsistencies of which "largely restricts the film's appeal to bookish pre-teens". Henry Fitzherbert of the Daily Express praised the actors' performances, particularly Smith's, and noted that it "casts a magical spell by the touching conclusion".