Movies For Breakfast THE NIGHT HOUSE Review

Rebecca Hall’s gripping lead performance coupled with complex, emotional drama carry this solidly crafted ghost story.

Synopsis

Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep together-but then the dreams come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house call to her, beckoning with a ghostly allure. But the harsh light of day washes away any proof of a haunting. Against the advice of her friends, she begins digging into his belongings, yearning for answers.

Review

Grief and trauma can be interesting catalysts for solid psychological horror. Ari Aster’s unsettling couplet of films (Hereditary and Midsommar) as well as Lars Von Trier’s extremely disturbing “Antichrist” are strong examples of films where a character’s grief or trauma can lead pathways to even more dark roads of character and past demons. In “The Night House,” Rebecca Hall plays Beth, a schoolteacher that has just become a widow after her husband Owen (Evan Jonigkeit) commits suicide. As Beth tries to pick back up the pieces of her life – distraughtly watching cheerful home videos, returning back to work with a weary-worn mask of strongwill – she feels a strange presence in her house. It feels like a ghost, more so it feels like Owen.

So begins the premise of “Night House”. As Beth takes a deeper look into her deceased husband’s “other life,” she discovers details that further complicate the impenetrable “perfect husband” vision she has of him. She starts to carry suspicion that her husband may have carried on multiple affairs. From there, after conversing with concerned neighbor Mel (Vondie Curtis-Hall, fine understated acting), she learns of a small house in the nearby woods that her husband was in the middle of constructing. Inside the house, she finds a creepy impaled sculpture. This is the point where the film takes a surprisingly unsettling turn. It gives way to the more “interesting” part of the film where the story explores the themes of unresolved grief as well as unresolved trauma. The latter coming from a letter Owen left Beth at time of his suicide, alluding to a near-fatal car crash from Beth’s past that may or may not be connected to Owen’s death.

David Bruckner, of “The Signal” and “V/H/S” fame, gives strong direction to this atmospheric horror story. The sound design makes good use of its creepy silence as well as its loud and effective jump scares. There is also a clever technique of toying with depth of field as Beth becomes more familiar with her unknown (and possibly unwelcome) houseguest. All of the pieces tie together to create a solidly crafted horror film. However, there is more to be desired as Rebecca Hall’s strong performance mostly carries the film. She expertly exemplifies grief itself as she weaves from one emotion to the next – sadness to anguish to confoundment to terror. Hall uses the written material well, even making room for the film’s slight dark humor. A particular scene to note is an awkward get-together with friends, including her best friend Claire (Sarah Goldberg, solid) in which she reads – for the first time – her husband’s suicide note. Hall plays up the awkward humor as she mocks the seriousness of the whole situation and alludes to it “getting late” as her husband may be “waiting” for her at home.

As the film heads towards its creepy conclusion, we learn the meaning behind everything including the presence in Beth’s home. However, as somewhat resolute as this climax may be, there is still much to be desired from this film. “The Night House” takes more interesting risks as a film when it leans away from its supernatural edge and stays within the realm of its intriguing emotional drama. As Beth wrestles with the unsettling contrast of what she thought her husband was coupled with what he actually was, “Night House” is a way more interesting story. As the complex drama of a woman trying to understand her husband’s secret life seeps through the film’s surface, the supernatural “ghost story” side of the plot feels like a distraction. “The Night House” both gives and takes away its own power as it struggles to match its hollow-but-solidly-crafted ghost story with its more complex emotional drama stuck in the film’s core. Maybe that’s the “ghost” that should be let out instead.

Closing Thoughts

“The Night House” is interesting, to say the least. It is interesting and messy. However, the film is a “good” type of messy as it’s intriguing to see where Beth’s discovery takes us as the film pushes forward. “Night House” works less as a ghost story and more as a complicated drama where a woman tries to reconcile the husband she knew with the husband she didn’t. Rebecca Hall’s strong performance may be enough to sustain entertainment but may not be enough to fulfill total satisfaction as “Night House” is a clunky mess of two films in one. However, one could argue that maybe this is the film’s way of exemplifying grief. There’s always unfulfilled resolution when we lose someone we love. There may not have been enough memories shared, not enough secrets unearthed or explained. If one feels this way then maybe “Night House” does work and if so, it works just fine.

Trailer