The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
The darkness within
‘The Night House’ intrigues even as it mildly frustrates
“The Night House” checks a lot of the horrorthriller boxes.
Frightening moments? Check.
Disturbing motifs? Check.
Keeps you guessing deep into the film? Check.
On its surface a hauntedhouse affair, “The Night House” is more than that — a drama interested in mining some worthwhile if not unfamiliar thematic and psychological territories. And it does so relatively successfully, even if the execution from director David Bruckner can be underwhelming at some key moments.
Beth (Rebecca Hall) is recently widowed, her husband of nearly 15 years — the more upbeat of the two of them — having gone out in the small boat near the lakeside home he’d built for them and shot himself in the head.
She is, understandably, devastated and adrift, the late Owen (Evan Jonigkeit) having given her no reason to suspect he would do this and leaving her with only a brief, cryptic note.
Beth begins to see and hear things in the home, fairly secluded in the woods, and the line separating what she experiences while awake and asleep begins to blur.
Against the advice of good friend Clair (Sarah Goldberg of HBO’s “Barry”)
and concerned nearby resident Mel (Vondie Curtis Hall), Beth begins to dig into Owen’s secrets. She discovers architectural designs he’d created with mysterious phrases such as “reverse floorplan” and a picture on his phone of a woman (Stacy Martin) who looks incredibly like Beth.
As she unearths more clues, Beth has reason to believe some form of Owen is still in the house with her.
“The Night House,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020, was penned by the duo of Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (“Super Dark Times”). Their screenplay explores grief, depression, self-destruction and other not-so-happy subjects without ever wallowing in them. The writers infuse the story with some needed seasoning by having drawn inspiration from Caerdroia, which, according to the film’s production notes, were turf mazes built by Welsh shepherds, as well as from an Egyptian voodoo doll from the fourth century now in the collection of the Louvre.
Brucker, meanwhile, cites
Once the entire plot has been laid bare, it is highly satisfying. The execution may be lacking in spots, and certainly at the end, but there are some nice story elements here.
cinematic inspirations including “Repulsion,” “Black Swan” and “The Babadook.” As he did with his first fulllength film, 2017’s “The Ritual,” he pulls you in and easily nudges you into becoming invested in the goings-on.
He’s less interested in jump scares — there’s one or two, to be sure — and more in mood and dramatic transitions. As for the latter, this is one area in which he and editor David Marks
(“The Last Black Man in San Francisco”0 shine.
Bruckner also, unfortunately, struggles to bring a story home with as much potency as is needed. With “The Night House,” the sound mix feels like an issue at times when the otherworldly presence in the house is speaking — although that may vary by the sound equipment being used — and, more crucially, the conclusion feels a bit undercooked.
That said, once the entire plot has been laid bare, it is highly satisfying. The execution may be lacking in spots, and certainly at the end, but there are some nice story elements here.
Plus, the character of Beth is consistently compelling — even when her pain causes her to lash out at a person who doesn’t necessarily deserve it — thanks largely to the work of Hall (“Professor Marston and the Wonder Women,” “Godzilla vs. Kong”). The English actress almost forces us to share in Beth’s grief — and she fully commits to some late-game physical moments that easily could have come across as laughable but that do not.
However imperfect it may be, “The Night House” rises above tropes of its genre to offer you something a bit deeper.