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| Rebecca Hall in "The Night House" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
For the horror genre especially, it’s always a rewarding experience when a movie goes the extra mile by not being just about the scares, but being about something more. When not trying to frighten you, there are those filmmakers who wish to tell a story that connects the terror and a personal issue that the characters are experiencing. These are the kinds of horror narratives that make your heart race and engage your mind.
Director David Bruckner delivers such a movie with his film, “The Night House,” a movie that succeeds as both a chilling horror story and an affecting character study with a deeper meaning that backs up the scares.
Beth (Rebecca Hall) is a widow who’s trying to make sense of her husband’s recent suicide. When she starts to think that his ghost might be roaming her lakeside house, Beth discovers secrets about her husband that will make her question the person that he was.
Hall gives a heartbreaking performance of a woman who’s overcome with grief and trying to understand why her husband did what he did. Her superb work presents a person who’s trying to keep it together and try to convince people that she’s fine, but her anguish can always be seen, even in the most understated moments. Hall’s performance becomes all the more emotional when her character begins to feel a sense of betrayal over what she learns later on, and to see that mix with the sadness of losing her husband offers a character arc that has stunning, poignant impact. Just like with “Midsommar,” “Hereditary,” and “The Babadook,” a lot of the best performances in horror movies are those that have the main character experience personal issues in the midst of the scares, and Hall’s work is the latest example of what can be done when you provide a talented performer with such an opportunity.
The screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski offers plenty of depth for Beth’s character. All of this comes into play as the main horror elements arrive, giving this story of the grieving process a terrifying edge to it. Even when the scares reach their peak later in the movie, the story never loses its sight on developing the main character and offering a view into the depression that she’s been feeling for most of her life. This is a narrative that isn’t hesitant to play with your expectations as to how it will unfold, making you more and more uncertain as you’re provided with further details of Beth’s husband’s past.
The cinematography by Elisha Christian takes full advantage of the layout of the house and surrounding woods. Her lensing of the house’s interior makes terrific use of windows and mirrors to keep us unsettled, and the darkness of the woods heightens the strong sense of isolation that Beth experiences while living in a secluded area. And, her occasional use of silhouettes and how they’re framed within the images will have you searching the screen to see what Beth might encounter.
Another factor of the movie that causes disquiet is David Marks’ editing. As the movie goes on, we have to decipher whether what Beth experiences is real or not. With that, the seamless transitions between dreams and reality will cause a sense of unease that will rattle your nerves as you try to orient yourself in Beth’s state of mind.
Bruckner maintains an intense level of foreboding throughout the film, creating a movie that uses its accomplished technical aspects to provide us with some effective jump scares within the unsettling atmosphere. Not only does Bruckner deliver a frightening sense of isolation in the house, but also in the expanse of the surrounding forest area, a similar trait that can be found in his woodlands-set film, “The Ritual.” Aside from the horror, Bruckner proves to be just as proficient in staging impactful drama, giving a performance-driven nature to the movie that absorbs you in the psychological torment that plagues Beth.
Between the scares and the labyrinthine mystery, Bruckner’s film is a house that has many secrets to unlock.
Grade: A
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