“You were right. There is nothing. Nothing is after you. You’re safe now.” This is the nebulous suicide note that will send grieving widow, Beth, on an obsessive search for answers. Why did her husband, Owen, row a boat out from their lakeside home and shoot himself? What does the note mean? Safe from what? She finds pictures of other women on his computer that look just like her and occult books and images with margin notes from Owen. Now a disturbing presence is in the house watching her. Is it a dream? Visions caused by her grief and lots of brandy? Or a supernatural experience?
This is the set-up for the psychological horror film, The Night House. While it does contain some of the usual haunted house depictions – a woman alone at night in an isolated big house on a lakefront being tormented by sound and vision – there are twists that keep you guessing to the end…and beyond. Rebecca Hall (Vicki Christina Barcelona) plays Ruth in an all-encompassing performance. She expounds an emotional rollercoaster of grief, anger, depression, fear, confusion, and numbness. As fine as the supporting cast is, this is her movie.
Beth was in a serious car accident at 17 years old and declared “dead” for four minutes. When asked to describe what it was like, she said, “there’s nothing. No light at the end of the tunnel, there’s just tunnel.” She was the depressed suicidal type, not her husband. He believed in a better place. Did taking his own life bring him to that? And Beth, too? Owen takes horrific steps on the way to his final act. A note on his architectural drawings, “reverse floor plan,” portends Beth’s discovery of dark, dark secrets.
The Night House is an atmospheric and intellectual ride. Words may take on different meanings. Nothing may mean something. The ending is tense and unnerving. All will not be resolved, and multiple interpretations are possible. ‘There’s nothing there. I know.”
D² Rating ◼◼◼☐☐
Trivia: Rebecca Hall made her directorial debut in 2021 with this black-and-white drama set in New York City in the 1920s?
Answer: Passing