Movie Breakdown: Things Heard & Seen

Pre-Screening Stance:

I know American Splendor was released all the way back in 2003, but it’s exciting to me that its directors – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini – did Things Heard & Seen. Also, look at the cast for this film – Amanda Seyfried, Natalia Dyer, Rhea Seehorn, Karen Allen, F. Murray Abraham, James Urbaniak, James Norton, Michael O’Keefe. Talk about loaded.

Post-Screening Ramble:

Things Heard & Seen is a quality thriller (with a dash of horror). Its story follows a family – Catherine (Amanda Seyfried), George (James Norton) and their little girl Franny (Ana Sophia Heger) – who move into an old house in a very rural area. Naturally, the place is haunted (because of course it is, come on!), and things start to go sideways just after they settle into the spot. Here’s the deal though, Things Heard & Seen is not the usual kind of horror/thriller where the family at its center must figure out a way to survive/defeat the evil presence that’s occupying their home. Instead, the “entity” here is actually trying to help Catherine, who is becoming increasingly aware that her hubby George is not at all who she thought he was. This narrative flip helps keep things interesting, and it’s just different enough that when combined with the film’s patient pace, there’s an ever-present tension that you just can’t shake. By the way, on the performance side of things, everyone is good, but a special shout-out needs to go to Norton, whose George is a wildly unlikable asshole. Great work, man!

If you like the slow, ominous feel of something like last year’s The Haunting of Bly Manor, then I think you’ll dig Things Heard & Seen a lot. The film will open on Netflix this Thursday, April 29.

One Last Thought:

Why isn’t Rhea Seehorn a bigger name? She’s so great in this, Better Call Saul, etc. Hollywood needs to get on giving her a starring role in a tent-pole film.