Written by: Kevin Berge
There's definitely nothing wrong. What are you talking about? We're all perfectly fine, clearly. (Image Courtesy of: blackyouthproject.com)
Quick Take: The Haunting of Hill House is terrifying yet emotionally complex, exploring the struggles of those who have dealt with trauma with an open heart. While certainly a genuine horror series, it works just as well as pure drama, leading an emotionally resonant conclusion.
***This review will contain spoilers for all of The Haunting of Hill House. If you have not seen it and planned to do, please do not read past this point until you have. It is well worth your time if you have considered it.***
Death is impossible to process. How do we accept that those we have lost are gone? No one truly knows where we go truly after we die. Many have explanations, and there is much truth in that belief. What matters most is that no one is ever truly lost as long as we remember them.
The Haunting of Hill House sees death as a lingering specter, a restless spirit that lives on. It can be aggressive and malicious, but it can also be mournful and quiet. All these spirits may seem frightening, but it is with understanding that we see beyond the unknown.
The Crain family was broken when Hugh Crain (Timothy Hutton and Henry Thomas) decided to take a job to flip Hill House. This mansion is haunted by restless spirits that take the family's mother Olivia (Carla Gugino), leaving the whole family disturbed and traumatized.
While the show certainly has terrifying scares that linger in the mind, its most terrifying elements are the way these individual people cannot escape their grief. Each of them have compartmentalized a piece of the whole, but they can only find whatever little piece that is possible together.
What sets the series on its path most clearly are the journeys of the characters. This is most pronounced with Nell (Victoria Pedretti and Violet McGraw). She cannot get over the house, haunted by a future that always leads to her dying in the house where her mother died.
She is haunted by the bent-neck lady, a reflection of her coming suicide. Her haunting combined with a connection to the world beyond isolates her from the family in a way no one knows how to handle. She is invisible to them, even before she dies. It is only once everyone can accept the paranormal that she can be seen.
Her twin Luke (Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Julian Hilliard) is haunted by the house as well. He has turned to drugs in order to stop seeing the tall man ghost, but it never quite works. He almost dies in the house as well before the family comes to save him.
The oldest brother Steven (Michael Huisman and Paxton Singleton) writes about it all to try and ignore its reality. Theo (Kate Siegel and Mckenna Grace) isolates herself to avoid connections, especially due to her psychic ability. The oldest daughter Shirley (Elizabeth Reanor and Lulu Wilson) tries to be "normal" but still cannot fully hold herself together.
Death is impossible to process. How do we accept that those we have lost are gone? No one truly knows where we go truly after we die. Many have explanations, and there is much truth in that belief. What matters most is that no one is ever truly lost as long as we remember them.
The Haunting of Hill House sees death as a lingering specter, a restless spirit that lives on. It can be aggressive and malicious, but it can also be mournful and quiet. All these spirits may seem frightening, but it is with understanding that we see beyond the unknown.
The Crain family was broken when Hugh Crain (Timothy Hutton and Henry Thomas) decided to take a job to flip Hill House. This mansion is haunted by restless spirits that take the family's mother Olivia (Carla Gugino), leaving the whole family disturbed and traumatized.
While the show certainly has terrifying scares that linger in the mind, its most terrifying elements are the way these individual people cannot escape their grief. Each of them have compartmentalized a piece of the whole, but they can only find whatever little piece that is possible together.
What sets the series on its path most clearly are the journeys of the characters. This is most pronounced with Nell (Victoria Pedretti and Violet McGraw). She cannot get over the house, haunted by a future that always leads to her dying in the house where her mother died.
She is haunted by the bent-neck lady, a reflection of her coming suicide. Her haunting combined with a connection to the world beyond isolates her from the family in a way no one knows how to handle. She is invisible to them, even before she dies. It is only once everyone can accept the paranormal that she can be seen.
Her twin Luke (Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Julian Hilliard) is haunted by the house as well. He has turned to drugs in order to stop seeing the tall man ghost, but it never quite works. He almost dies in the house as well before the family comes to save him.
The oldest brother Steven (Michael Huisman and Paxton Singleton) writes about it all to try and ignore its reality. Theo (Kate Siegel and Mckenna Grace) isolates herself to avoid connections, especially due to her psychic ability. The oldest daughter Shirley (Elizabeth Reanor and Lulu Wilson) tries to be "normal" but still cannot fully hold herself together.
This family had way too many kids, especially given the father's profession is basically fixing up haunted houses. (Image Courtesy of: collider.com)
This family is a mess, and they struggle to trust each other past the events in Hill House. Some can still see their mom haunting them. Others have shunned each other, especially because Steven made money off their trauma by writing about Hill House.
One episode is given to each family member while mysteries are built up and executed. One of the best hours of TV I have seen in a long time is "Two Storms", a beautifully shot series of false one-takes experience where the family is finally together for Nell's sake only for the camera cuts to fray as the family falls back apart.
This is an emotional story because its ultimate point is that these damaged souls are not broken. We all need to come to accept that we are not alone. We need one another. We need to remember those we have lost but also not allow ourselves to forever dwell.
The Haunting of Hill House is beautiful in its blending of style and genre. It is a terrifying experience with the horror built on lingering images and background details. A few jump scares do not take away from the overall unforgettable atmosphere where the tension is built over time.
The actors are fantastic throughout the series. The child actors are largely well cast and directed to match their adult counterparts. Victoria Pedretti (Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Invisible Man) carry every scene they are in.
Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People) brings gravitas to his roles that seems to pull the other actors in to raise their game. Carla Gugino (Gerald's Game) once again works perfectly with show creator and director Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep) in a role that is both heartwarming and terrifying.
I cannot speak for its adaptation of the source material. I cannot speak for the various ways it could have told different stories with different perspectives. What I can say is the experience I had with The Haunting of Hill House was perfect.
It was in equal measure frightening and heart-warming. It builds up emotions that well into tears. It's hard not to cry at many points in this story, watching this family finally coming to terms with their own trauma and realizing what they need is each other. It is a true triumph of horror-drama.
One episode is given to each family member while mysteries are built up and executed. One of the best hours of TV I have seen in a long time is "Two Storms", a beautifully shot series of false one-takes experience where the family is finally together for Nell's sake only for the camera cuts to fray as the family falls back apart.
This is an emotional story because its ultimate point is that these damaged souls are not broken. We all need to come to accept that we are not alone. We need one another. We need to remember those we have lost but also not allow ourselves to forever dwell.
The Haunting of Hill House is beautiful in its blending of style and genre. It is a terrifying experience with the horror built on lingering images and background details. A few jump scares do not take away from the overall unforgettable atmosphere where the tension is built over time.
The actors are fantastic throughout the series. The child actors are largely well cast and directed to match their adult counterparts. Victoria Pedretti (Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Invisible Man) carry every scene they are in.
Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People) brings gravitas to his roles that seems to pull the other actors in to raise their game. Carla Gugino (Gerald's Game) once again works perfectly with show creator and director Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep) in a role that is both heartwarming and terrifying.
I cannot speak for its adaptation of the source material. I cannot speak for the various ways it could have told different stories with different perspectives. What I can say is the experience I had with The Haunting of Hill House was perfect.
It was in equal measure frightening and heart-warming. It builds up emotions that well into tears. It's hard not to cry at many points in this story, watching this family finally coming to terms with their own trauma and realizing what they need is each other. It is a true triumph of horror-drama.
