Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019 film)

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase is a 2019 American teen mystery film directed by Katt Shea with a screenplay by Nina Fiore and John Herrera, based on the book of the same name by Carolyn Keene which was earlier adapted for a 1939 film. The film stars Sophia Lillis in the titular role of Nancy Drew, as she investigates a haunted house.

The film was released on March 15, 2019. It received moderately positive reviews from critics.

Plot
After her mother's death, 16-year-old sleuth Nancy Drew and her father Carson relocate from Chicago to rural River Heights. While Nancy struggles to fit in, Carson is active in local politics, fighting the development of a train line through the town. A local thug named Willie Wharton threatens Nancy one night to try to scare her father into backing down.

While performing community service as punishment for a prank on a school bully, Nancy meets Flora, an elderly woman needing help with an apparent haunting in her home. Excited by the mystery, Nancy stays overnight at Flora's home, along with Flora's niece Helen. That night, strange things begin to happen, with lights going out and then exploding, cabinet doors and drawers opening, and a cloaked figure appearing and warning Nancy to give up her mystery.

The next day, Nancy believes that someone broke in and tried scaring them out. Nancy and Helen investigate, and they find a secret passage that leads outside, revealing how the "ghost" entered the house. The secret passage also contains props the intruder used to simulate a haunting, such as a rigged fuse box to manipulate the lights in the house. The rest of the strange phenomenon is explained by a rig that emits concentrated nutmeg through the house's air conditioning, which triggers hallucinations.

Later, Nancy realizes her father, who is staying out of town on a business trip, has not checked in with her or her aunt Hannah recently. She calls her father's friend Nate, who tells her that Carson's meeting is at a campsite and reception must be spotty. Nancy is not convinced, as Carson had told her he would be staying at a hotel.

Worried that something has happened to him, Nancy and Helen head to Carson's hotel. They discover that he never checked out, and his cell phone is still in his room. Security footage from the previous night reveals Carson was ambushed and kidnapped by Wharton. Nancy's friends Bess and George find out that Wharton is also the man who bought the nutmeg used at Flora's house, and Nancy realizes Carson is being kept in the secret passage there. She and Helen head to Flora's house, where they discover Wharton and Nate holding Carson and Flora hostage. Wharton and Nate were working together to sabotage the anti-train movement, and their scheme was meant to force Flora to sell her house so the line could be built through her property. Nancy and Helen work together to save Carson and Flora from their captors, who are then arrested by the police.

The next day at school, Nancy, George, and Bess welcome Helen into their circle of friends, and together they plan their next adventure at the Lilac Inn.

Cast

 * Sophia Lillis as Nancy Drew
 * Zoe Renee as George Fayne
 * Mackenzie Graham as Bess Marvin
 * Laura Slade Wiggins as Helen Corning
 * Sam Trammell as Carson Drew
 * Linda Lavin as Flora
 * Andrea Anders as Hannah Gruen
 * Jesse C. Boyd as Willie Wharton
 * Jay DeVon Johnson
 * Andrew Matthew Welch
 * Jon Briddell
 * Josh Daugherty
 * Evan Castelloe

Development
On April 20, 2018, it was reported that Sophia Lillis would star in the film adaptation of Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, which would be produced by Ellen DeGeneres, Jeff Kleeman, and Chip Diggins for Warner Bros. Pictures.

Casting
In June 2018, other cast was announced which included Zoe Renee as George, Mackenzie Graham as Bess, Laura Slade Wiggins as Helen, Sam Trammell as Carson, Linda Lavin as Flora, and Andrea Anders as Hannah, along with Jay DeVon Johnson, Andrew Matthew Welch, Jon Briddell, Josh Daugherty, Evan Castelloe, and Jesse C. Boyd.

Filming
Principal photography on the film took place in June 2018 in Monroe, Georgia.

Marketing
On January 18, 2019, DeGeneres announced exclusively that the film would be released in theaters on March 15; she also debuted a trailer. On February 19, 2019 Warner Bros. Pictures released a short clip from the movie.

Music
The score of movie was composed by Sherri Chung. Emily Bear composed and sings the songs "More than Just a Girl" and "Daylight".

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 65% based on 23 reviews, with a weighted average of 5.77/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 55 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".