Tim Burton is widely known for his success in over-the-top, unconventional, and peculiar films. Unfortunately, his latest work, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” is peculiar in a different sense.

The story follows Jake, a boy from Florida who, after his grandfather’s mysterious death, goes on an adventure and ends up finding a home for children with unusual abilities who are overseen by a magical headmistress.

While some of the supporting  characters were well-developed, many of them fell unfortunately flat due to the lack of character development within the writing.  The plot was spotty and disjointed, filled with great ideas that we never see again. While its conflict and ideas were mesmerizing, the plot holes were unfortunately plentiful. In short, it was a bundle of contradictions that makes someone wonder if this was written like a last minute essay: just get the darn thing done! Consistency be damned!

Many of the characters within the film, such as the evil Mr. Baron and Miss Peregrine herself, were either flat as a board or were interesting, but given little to no time screen time. Miss Peregrine was interesting, however certain aspects, such as the wavering of her confidence and her worry over Jake’s grandfather were only hinted at. The film could only have benefitted from exploring those emotions, but cutting such scenes left her arc in ruins.

As with every film, there is romance. In this case, the main character’s romance left the audience scratching their heads and wondering where the development had gone. In contrast, the romance between two of the  supporting characters was actually interesting and had solid development. This proves that they could have done the same for the main characters, but chose not to.

Burton’s cinematography helped create the world he was depicting, such as using wide range shots to showcase the many odd locations, from the desolate beach to the bright house to the eerie boulevard. The whimsical, classical music helped set the scenes and worked easily into the film, giving the film some help to capture the audience.

Though the actors gave valiant performances in their roles, they were working with a story that was poorly written, plot holes and lack of character development galore, and the poor directing did not help. This particular film of Burton’s makes peculiar more of an insult than a compliment.