Searchlight Pictures
It’s been a fun year so far for horror films with many releases seeing the light of day after being delayed for months after their original date. Movies like A Quiet Place Part II and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Do It have succeeded in premiering at home or in theaters. As a big fan of horror films, one release this year that has kept me intrigued is The Night House starring Rebecca Hall. It’s hard to get excited for a new film when everything is being shifted, but it’s finally here.
Rebecca Hall plays Beth, a recent widow who lost her husband to suicide. She is left alone in a lakeside house that he built for her. As she navigates her grief and living alone, dreams of her husband come to her, which seem more real as nights pass. Disturbing visions of a presence in her house forces her to dig into her husband’s belongings and question her house and her relationship with her husband. Beth discovers a blueprint of the house, which may suggest that her husband had other plans for their house, which included a reverse plan.
Rebecca Hall is an underrated actress. She isn’t talked about a lot compared to other actresses. She recently starred in Godzilla vs. Kong, which is no small film. In The Night House, she gives a realistic performance for someone who just lost their husband to suicide. She is angry for most of the film, which leads her to wanting to know why her husband had so many secrets. Hall’s performance is raw and emotional. She holds back a lot within the film, but she when she unloads all her emotions, it is heartbreaking to watch.
The mystery of Beth’s house and her husband’s secret life builds on top of each other throughout the film. The story never exhausts its options early but instead keeps you guessing up until the last frames. Little is known about the process of building the house and its reverse plans, which always kept me guessing and looking forward to its big reveal. This is the type of movie where a lot is left for interpretation, which may be off-putting for some. I personally enjoy movies where you can have a different idea for the movie than others, it allows for open conversations about the film and its story. After watching the movie, I was constantly changing how I perceived the film and what the reverse plans meant to the husband.
The use of light and shadows benefits this film. Since the movie deals a lot with illusions, shadows play an important part to the story and getting a reaction out of the audience. As Beth uncovers more, the house becomes more terrifying and the use of shadows helps build tension. Most of the scares within the film are subtle, which is honestly more terrifying than your average horror film that uses wasted scare tactics. The sound also gives the film an eerie feeling. The reverse structure of the house gives the film the terror of the unknown. It reminded me a lot of The Invisible Man when it dealt with Beth’s husband. Since Beth is alone for most of the film, whenever something is done that isn’t Beth’s doing, it sends chills down the audience’s spine because of that unknown.
The Night House is a solid horror film. It lacks any strong scares and blood, but what makes this film truly terrifying is the unknown and the mystery of the house. It keeps its mystery tight and does not allow it to be exposed early. I was always questioning how the film would end especially when it came to Beth and her husband. In a year of surprising horror films, The Night House stands out as one of the best.
The Night House has a run time of 1 hour 47 minutes and is rated R for some violence/disturbing images, and language including some sexual references.
Share this post
