Movie Breakdown: The Night House
Pre-Screening Stance:
I feel like I haven’t seen anyone talking about The Night House, which is weird since it does have a pretty great trailer. Maybe it’s just the weirdness from the pandemic that’s buried it a bit? Anyhow, I think it looks like a quality thriller.
Post-Screening Ramble:
There’s a lot to like about The Night House, but my favorite bit is that it wastes absolutely no time getting into things. On the first night after the funeral of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) begins to hear weird noises in her home. Then she starts noticing other odd things, having strange dreams, etc. Like some of the more anxiety-riddled horror films of late, the film immediately puts you in a spot where you aren’t sure if Beth is overwhelmed by grief, or if her dead hubs Owen (Evan Jonigkeit) is actually trying to communicate with her. This gets even hazier when Beth comes across a woman she doesn’t recognize in Owen’s phone, which further puts her in a tailspin.
It’s difficult to say much about acts two and three of The Night House without spoiling so much of what makes it great, so I’ll just note that it goes a lot of places that I didn’t expect it to. This is a nifty film that likes to leave you wondering if you should be scared or just intrigued at any given moment, and it does a really nice job of exploring grief, death and relationships. Rebecca Hall is very good as Beth, a woman determined to unravel the mess that was left behind by her husband. I was also really pleasantly surprised at how often the film flashes some rather crafty visuals.
Whenever you have a chance, you should watch The Night House. The thriller will open in theaters this Friday, August 20.
One Last Thought:
In a bizarre turn of events, Sarah Goldberg is so good in Barry (as an aspiring actress who’s not all that great at acting) that she’s a total distraction in anything else. Seriously, throughout this entire film I never once bought into her as a real person – she always just looks like she’s acting.
