The Night House Review

The Night House was a horror film that made an incredible impression with its premiere being at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. After over a year and half, it has earned a wide release.

Beth (Rebecca Hall) is a recently widowed English teacher after her husband, Owen (Evan Jonigkeit), has committed suicide. As well as struggling with her grief, at night Beth has some strange experiences and she discovers that Owen had been keeping secrets from her. But are these events the result of Beth’s paranoia or something supernatural?

The 2010s saw a massive improvement from the horror genre with mainstream offerings getting critical praise. Some have even become Oscar winners (i.e. Get Out). There is now a rise in more art-house-style horror films with A24 leading the charge. They have released films like Hereditary, Midsommar, and The Lighthouse and had the US distribution rights for Saint Maud. Searchlight Pictures, who has a reputation for releasing prestige pictures, have released The Night House.

The Night House aimed to be a more thoughtful, character piece with people getting to analyse and interpret it. It’s a film with lofty ambitions. It helps that it has an actress of Rebecca Hall’s calibre in the main role. Hall has always shown herself to be a talented actress and she gives another excellent performance, this time as a woman suffering from grief and becoming confused about what was real. Hall and the writers weren’t afraid to make Beth unlikeable because she acted erratic and made inappropriate comments. Hall committed to the roles. Beth was intimidating when she confronted a book shop worker. One of the most powerful moments in the film was when Beth breaks down in tears, wanting her husband back.

The filmmakers seemed like they were trying to copy Ari Aster’s playbook. Aster has made a name for himself with Hereditary and Midsommar, films in the art-house horror genre. Like his films, The Night House has a main character who had mental health issues, a theme of dealing with grief, and the occult plays a major part of the film’s plot. Fans of Aster’s work would be able to get a fix from The Night House.

The Night House aimed to have a sense of ambiguity. It wanted to make Beth, and the audience, question that what was happening was real or just in Beth’s mind. Beth blacks out and wakes up in unusual places. It was implied the events at night were just dreams and they did have a surreal quality to for instance when Beth goes to the reverse house. The scenes at night also suggest that the house was haunted. Beth hears things going bump in the night, the radio turns itself on and Beth finds footsteps on the desk in the morning.

The other aspect of the plot was the mystery of what Owen was getting up to. Beth discovers on Owen’s phone he had lots of photos of women who looked like Beth. Owen had a book of the occult amongst his possessions. He also left a cryptic suicide note.

However, due to the film having so many plot avenues it made The Night House confused. It seemed like the filmmakers didn’t know what they wanted to make, so tried a bit of everything. It was a psychological piece, a thriller and a supernatural tale. This all made The Night House a jumble.

Whilst The Night House wanted to be a more character-driven piece, director David Bruckner, couldn’t help but have some jump scares. There were moments when there was suddenly a loud noise or piece of music just so audience members would suddenly sit up. Bruckner does know how to craft a creepy image with some things looking like a human figure that change when the characters move to a different position.

Rebecca Hall was able to evaluate The Night House as a study of grief and loneliness amidst some extraordinary situations. But the filmmakers seem to confuse multiple storylines as intriguing.