The premise leaves no doubt about the direction that this creation of Sharon Horgan will take (Disaster, Divorced) and Jeff Astrof (Trial and Error), regulars in comedy, drama or parody.
A New York family arrives with their two jaded teenagers in a decrepit mansion in a small bourgeois town in Connecticut, the Shining Vale of the title, acquired by Monsieur (Greg Kinnear).
This insurance broker and devoted husband wants to ward off the temptations of his adulterous wife (Courteney Cox), a once daring writer who is out of inspiration, depressed and likely struggling with other mental health issues.
The new residence is obviously haunted by its former occupants, who died there in murky circumstances.
The presence of ghosts, and more particularly that of the mistress of the house of the 1950s (Mira Sorvino), will disturb the already wavering balance of the author on the verge of madness, but also unblock the writing of her novel, and changing the trajectory of other family members, not always for the better.
With its star-studded cast, which navigates with ease in this amalgam of conventional horror suspense and not very scary mixed with black comedy on the vicissitudes of the couple, ShiningVale hooks the viewer well, without surprising him, so much does it exploit worn-out dramatic springs. Luckily, she does it with panache and efficiency that make you want to see her through to the end.
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