'The Night House' Surprised Me

It's rare that films stray far from your expectations.

Conclusions are obvious from the start. The climax feels overdramatized or incredibly dull.

In a day and age where we are desperate to reconnect, it feels harder than ever to empathize with characters.

So hear me out when I say this slightly spoiler-filled review comes from a place where I can bask in the light of a new emotional connection.

Beth (Rebecca Hall) is a breath of fresh air. You may recognize her from one of her most recent endeavors, Godzilla vs. Kong, where Hall plays one of the scientists charged with Kong's care.

Rebecca Hall is a different kind of animal in The Night House.

Directed by David Bruckner, this film can only be compared to a masterful work of art. The visuals are appealing, and the reds that paint this otherwise neutral color palette spark the nerves you feel coiling in your gut as the film progresses.

Premiering at Sundance at the beginning of 2020, The Night House finally found its way into local theatres this past weekend.

I wish I could say it's going to be an immediate hit, but a film like this isn't created for the masses.

It's a film made for the theatre but not for those who value action over intention. This is a character-driven story from the very start, and it does an excellent job of proving why horror doesn't always have to provoke goosebumps out of fear.

I walked in with few expectations other than a couple of high reviews I had glanced over during a quick internet search. I watched the trailer, which is what caught my attention in the first place, and predicted what I believed would occur in the next hour and fifty minutes. Everything I thought I knew from the trailer was disregarded by the time I had nearly finished the chocolate morsels I had purchased beforehand.

To be frank, I expected to watch the film, enjoy it, and not think about it again.

But here I am, writing a film review because I can't stress enough what a fool I was for thinking I could walk away from a motion picture like this.

Beth is so utterly human in everything she does that it seems almost too good to be true for a horror film. Her brashness becomes something that feels like bravery; her emotional trauma is so palpable you feel like crying, and then ten minutes later, you're choking on your drink because you get scared by a sudden, earsplitting noise.

The terror doesn't always leave after the scare, however. No, it settles in, nesting itself in your stomach as you watch Beth and the painful journey she finds herself unable to turn back from.

Psychological horror has another great film to latch itself onto.

The scares are not the highlights of this film, despite what may be true for other ventures in the horror genre.

It misleads you in this way and many more, but perhaps most of all in the way you will perceive the monsters in this film to be.

When you're an adult, monsters don't hide under your bed.

They burrow in your mind.

I'm not a film expert; I just really like movies. The movie doesn't have to be great or highly rated for me to praise it. I am unabashedly a fan of many horrendously reviewed films.

I am proud to say that I think this might be one of my more popular opinions.

Suicide, depression, and mental illness, the trinity of previously taboo topics that have become one of the biggest talking points of the last year, are all present in this film. It's heavily rooted in loss and anguish, as well as the fabrication and distortion of reality that comes when you lose a huge piece of yours.

It's heart-wrenching, which is why the horror is so well done.

After over a year of this strange alienation we have all felt, this film feels too timely. It makes me think that there was a reason it was released later than it was scheduled, and not just due to delays.

Because after a year of living with my family, I can't imagine anything more terrifying than living without them.

It's a wonderful film, one I hope many get to experience.

I'd dare say it's one of the best this year.