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Following a traumatic loss, the always excellent Rebecca Hall plays the central role in the effective “The Night House,” an old-fashioned ghost story that reveals unimaginable truths. Taking more cues from classic horror films like “Carnival of Souls” and “The Innocents” than most recent genre fare, it’s an extremely effective mood generator. It’s the kind of film that wants you to be unsettled from almost the very first frame all the way through its final frame, and it mostly succeeds in doing just that. If you’re looking for pure craftsmanship, this is David Bruckner’s (“The Ritual”) best work yet, as he carefully slides his camera through the increasingly disconcerting life of a woman who is learning that she may actually be safer now that her husband is haunting her than she was when she was living in the same house with him. This is a must-see for horror fans, and it is one of the better genre films of the year 2021, thanks to its excellent sound design, which truly enhances the experience.
After being struck numb by the sudden trauma of grief, Beth (Hall) is filled with rage at her husband Owen (Evan Jonigkeit), who she accuses of taking the boat out early one morning and shooting himself in the head. As far as Beth knows, he showed no signs of depression—as she noted at one point, that was her thing—and she is expected to continue unpacking at their lake house and going about her daily teaching routine. A few unusual possessions owned by Owen are discovered by her as she opens boxes, including some books that appear to be about the occult and dark arts, some of which have notes written in the margins by her deceased husband. What exactly was he into?
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Beth, on the other hand, is experiencing increasingly intense nightmares. Typically, they take place in the lake house where she now lives alone, and they appear to be leading her in various directions, including to another “mirror house” across the lake and down to the basement where Owen kept his most sinister secrets. What is the purpose of showing her these things? Hall deftly conveys a mixture of anger, grief, and confusion that captures what it’s like to be left behind by suicide, where questions can never be answered definitively and loved ones are understandably hurt by the decision to be left behind. “It’s like being left behind,” Hall writes. As a performer, she is exceptional. In this role, which requires a wide range of emotions, she gives some of her best work to date. Many other actresses would have relied on the haunting to do the heavy lifting, but Hall understands that a film like this won’t connect unless there are genuine, character-driven emotions at its heart. It’s a performance that reminded me of Nicole Kidman in “The Others” or Toni Collette in “Hereditary,” two other performances in which the suspension of disbelief is completely shattered if the actors don’t give it their all.
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The script, written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, forces Beth to play the role of both a survivor and an investigator. Whenever someone commits suicide by their own hand, it is common for people to speculate that they were concealing something, and it appears as though the writers started with that premise. What exactly was Owen keeping hidden from his wife and his circle of friends? It was a substantial amount, without giving anything away. Even Owen’s dark secrets undergo transformations throughout the course of this story. At first glance, it appears to be a straightforward story about a widow who discovers her husband’s secret life, especially after Beth discovers a photograph of another woman (Stacy Martin) on his smartphone. There’s a lot more to it than that, though. It’s almost too much to bear. The final revelations of “The Night House” can be difficult to unpack and connect back to the rest of the film; I even had to email a colleague who had asked me to try and explain the plot after seeing the film to help him understand it. I’m fairly certain that I understand it, but I’m not completely convinced that everything makes sense.
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This is not a particularly harsh criticism. Some gray areas should be present, as should some dots that do not connect to one another in a ghost story. And “The Night House” works best when it isn’t even trying to make sense; when we aren’t sure if we are awake or dreaming; when we aren’t sure if Beth is being warned or being hunted by her visions; when we aren’t sure if we are awake or dreaming. The sounds that go bump in the night, the wet footprints on a dock when no one else should be there, the writing in the fog on a shower mirror—all of these beats are expertly handled by Bruckner and Hall, who understand that uncertainty is the most terrifying state of being in which to be found. This is especially true at night.
For more personality quizzes check this: The Many Saints Of Newark Quiz.
