For as much as the home is meant to be a place of comfort, for some of us, it can be a hell.
Netflix’s The House is a fascinating look into such horrors. The general premise behind The House is that it is a stop-motion anthology that revolves around one house, involving three separate stories of different characters within different time periods. The film contains a plethora of brilliant voice acting, including several talents such as: Mia Goth, Claudie Blakley, Matthew Goode, Mark Heap, Miranda Richardson, Helena Bonham Carter, and many more. And though the characters may be that of small puppet-like beings, do not mistake The House as something meant for children. There is a deceptive coziness to The House that aims to throw off the viewer and, at first, hide its underlining ominous intentions.
For the purposes of this review, there is a significant point I want to address before moving forward. Though chapter three does contain some eerie moments, and I will be including it in the overall score of this review – I think it’s fair to say the chapter is far removed from typical horror genre fare. That said, chapters one and two make for remarkable horror – the kind that have the power to keep us up at night and question our surroundings.
The opening chapter, “I – And heard within, a lie is spun,” takes place out in the countryside. We aren’t told much, but we can see that our protagonists are not well off. A little girl approaches her father, mentioning something about some people coming to the house; she asks her father if these are good people, to which the father says, no. Later, the family is offered to have their home remodeled – all they must do is live in this house designed by a reclusive architect for an unknown amount of time. While the house is decadent and the family are treated to good food, one of its odd curiosities is how the floor plan is constantly changing. The little girl may go upstairs to her bedroom, and when she decides she wants to come down later, the stairs have been removed by that of construction workers. Then there’s the odd case of the architect’s errand man, who lingers about the house and cries to himself.
THE HOUSE. Matthew Goode as Raymond in THE HOUSE. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2021
Through incredible writing and direction, The House does a superb job keeping the viewer at a distance when it comes to fully understanding what is taking place. In the second chapter, “II – Then lost is truth that can’t be won,” we follow an individual renovating a house he’s looking to flip – but one can sense that there is something not right about the situation. With minor exceptions that come in the form of truly unsettling imagery and moments, The House’s brand of horror is that of creeping dread and slowly unraveling sanity. This film looks to get under the skin and rattle its way into one’s mind. There is a haunting element to much of the first chapter that conveys an air of stress; that as we the audience watch this family exist within the house, we are getting the feeling that something horrible is happening. Chapter two offers a similar quality, although, it presents it in a different aesthetic to catch viewers off guard.
And even if the third chapter, “III – Listen again and seek the sun,” strays far from genre horror, it makes for a strong conclusion to this anthology, given what the film is exploring. Frankly, after taking in the grim tones of the first two chapters, the finale does make for a nice shift in gears. Though, it would have been awesome to see the film conclude on a horror note.
What I’ve touched upon here doesn’t even cover the depths that The House traverses, for each chapter offers intriguing themes to mull over and that add to the creepy atmosphere. Overall, The House is a brilliant horror with a Lynchian vibe that aims to consume the audience within its own walls; to lure them in with deceptively cute visuals and charming stop motion, bringing them deep into nightmares.
The House is now streaming on Netflix. Directed by: Emma de Swaef, Marc James Roels, Niki Lindroth von Bahr, and Paloma Baeza. Screenplay by: Enda Walsh.
