The House
Year: 2022
Director: Paloma Baeza, Emma de Swaef, Marc James Roels & Niki Lindroth van Bahr
Starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Jarvis Cocker, Mia Goth & Susan Wokoma
Runtime: 97 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 27/01/22
Director: Paloma Baeza, Emma de Swaef, Marc James Roels & Niki Lindroth van Bahr
Starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Jarvis Cocker, Mia Goth & Susan Wokoma
Runtime: 97 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 27/01/22
I’ve been in need of a great slow burning psychological horror for a while now and when I watched the trailer for Netflix’s ‘The House’ I thought I had finally found it. What I was shown was some extremely creepy looking stop motion animation and the promise of a house that appeared to have some kind of sinister intentions upon its inhabitants throughout the ages. So, when I excitedly sat down to watch it I have to say I was somewhat disheartened to find it significantly lacking in psychological scares, and find out that it’s actually just kind of weird instead.
Split into three separate stories concerning a single house, The House opens with a tale about a family who move into the newly built home and fall prey to a twisted artist and his delusions of grandeur. The second act takes place many years later as a new owner attempts to refurbish the house, selling it as some trendy upmarket mansion, only to discover some unwanted occupants. Finally the film closes with a dystopian setting where the water levels have risen leaving the house as the only structure left standing and its three final occupants must decide whether to remain in the house and face inevitable death, or journey out into the unknown and leave the house to sink into the rising water.
Split into three separate stories concerning a single house, The House opens with a tale about a family who move into the newly built home and fall prey to a twisted artist and his delusions of grandeur. The second act takes place many years later as a new owner attempts to refurbish the house, selling it as some trendy upmarket mansion, only to discover some unwanted occupants. Finally the film closes with a dystopian setting where the water levels have risen leaving the house as the only structure left standing and its three final occupants must decide whether to remain in the house and face inevitable death, or journey out into the unknown and leave the house to sink into the rising water.
Maybe The House left a sour impression on me because I was expecting it to be something that it wasn’t. But that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy my time with the film, it just certainly wasn’t the horror I was expecting it to be.
The first story, titled ‘And Heard Within, A Lie Is Spun’ (Directed by Emma de Swaef & Marc James Roles), is closest to what I had expected The House to be all along. The whole thing has an eerie sense of foreboding about it, with some exceptionally creepy character design, and a story that isn’t afraid to get under your skin a bit. It won’t leave you terrified but it will leave you a little unsettled, kind of like a fairy tale gone wrong.
The second story, ‘Then Lost Is Truth That Can’t Be Won’ (Directed by Niki Lindroth von Bahr), feels like a bad dream I’ve had once, but not in that it was scary but more frustrating and confusing. Nothing goes right for our protagonist (Jarvis Cocker) and every small victory he has is undone either by the house itself or by visitors to it. The ending feels a little out of place and ambiguous, maybe I missed the point of the story all along, but I struggled to see how it fit in with the rest of the story.
Finally, the third story, ‘Listen Again And Seek the Sun’ (Directed by Paloma Baeza) has almost no horror elements whatsoever. Funnily enough it’s the story I enjoyed the most, perhaps because it made the most sense, but I really resonated with Rosa’s (Susan Wokoma) conflict as to whether to leave her dream house to just disappear from the encroaching water, or stay in the hope that it’ll all be ok.
What I really loved about The House though was its animation. Stop motion is perhaps my favourite form of animation, because when it’s done well there’s just so much depth. All the environments and character models are so highly detailed, and particularly with the first story, which is created almost entirely using fabric, you get so much texture to everything. Each story does use slightly different materials, but the first story is the most distinct in visual style and I think it really lends well to the eerie nature of that story.
Whilst The house wasn’t what I was expecting, or even particularly what I wanted, it was still an interesting curiosity that can only be birthed through a service like Netflix. If you’re an animation fanatic then definitely check it out as the stop motion technique is on top form here. It may also be a good way to introduce younger viewers into more sinister narratives as it never allows horror to become more than a background player. If anything, The House is just weird, and that’s really all it needs to be. I’m perfectly happy coming away from it not understanding what I just watched, and whilst there is bound to be something to decipher from it, I think it adds to the mystery of it all to just remain meaningless.
The first story, titled ‘And Heard Within, A Lie Is Spun’ (Directed by Emma de Swaef & Marc James Roles), is closest to what I had expected The House to be all along. The whole thing has an eerie sense of foreboding about it, with some exceptionally creepy character design, and a story that isn’t afraid to get under your skin a bit. It won’t leave you terrified but it will leave you a little unsettled, kind of like a fairy tale gone wrong.
The second story, ‘Then Lost Is Truth That Can’t Be Won’ (Directed by Niki Lindroth von Bahr), feels like a bad dream I’ve had once, but not in that it was scary but more frustrating and confusing. Nothing goes right for our protagonist (Jarvis Cocker) and every small victory he has is undone either by the house itself or by visitors to it. The ending feels a little out of place and ambiguous, maybe I missed the point of the story all along, but I struggled to see how it fit in with the rest of the story.
Finally, the third story, ‘Listen Again And Seek the Sun’ (Directed by Paloma Baeza) has almost no horror elements whatsoever. Funnily enough it’s the story I enjoyed the most, perhaps because it made the most sense, but I really resonated with Rosa’s (Susan Wokoma) conflict as to whether to leave her dream house to just disappear from the encroaching water, or stay in the hope that it’ll all be ok.
What I really loved about The House though was its animation. Stop motion is perhaps my favourite form of animation, because when it’s done well there’s just so much depth. All the environments and character models are so highly detailed, and particularly with the first story, which is created almost entirely using fabric, you get so much texture to everything. Each story does use slightly different materials, but the first story is the most distinct in visual style and I think it really lends well to the eerie nature of that story.
Whilst The house wasn’t what I was expecting, or even particularly what I wanted, it was still an interesting curiosity that can only be birthed through a service like Netflix. If you’re an animation fanatic then definitely check it out as the stop motion technique is on top form here. It may also be a good way to introduce younger viewers into more sinister narratives as it never allows horror to become more than a background player. If anything, The House is just weird, and that’s really all it needs to be. I’m perfectly happy coming away from it not understanding what I just watched, and whilst there is bound to be something to decipher from it, I think it adds to the mystery of it all to just remain meaningless.