Welcome to One to Watch – an ongoing guide to film. In each edition, I’ll be recommending one movie which deserves a place on your watchlist.
From overlooked gems to modern classics, One to Watch is all about discovering your next great watch, which today is the mystery horror… The Night House (2020).
The Night House revolves around recent widower Beth, who is struggling to come to terms with the death of her husband, Owen. The pair had 14 years together, but it all ended abruptly when Owen took his own life, and Beth finds herself questioning why.
On the night of Owen’s funeral, Beth hears a strange knocking. The next day she discovers footprints outside, which suggest someone might have been in her house.
Over subsequent nights Beth begins to experience unexplained phenomena. Could this be the spirit of Owen or something far more sinister?
Directed by David Bruckner, and starring Rebecca Hall, Evan Jonigkeit, and Sarah Goldberg, The Night House is ‘One to Watch’ because it is an unsettling and frankly quite spooky story which is part thriller, part chiller.
The film offers far more depth than your average haunted house picture, with a story which moves in surprising directions. There’s the mystery surrounding the strange noises and disturbing phenomena; there’s some troubling secrets which relate to Owen and his death; and then there is an exploration of grief and depression, with Rebecca Hall’s Beth at the centre of it all.
But the strength of The Night House is in its ability to keep the narrative moving along, while getting the audience to question what they are watching. Is this a haunting or is Beth imagining things and descending into madness?
There is an answer and a big revelation which brings the story to a satisfying conclusion. And unlike many supernatural films of this ilk, The Night House doesn’t fall short as it details all this during the final act.
If you’re a fan of horror or mystery thrillers, The Night House needs to be on your watchlist. Despite a strong critical reception when it was released back in 2021, the film wasn’t a big box office hit and slid under the radar – something not helped by a double-whammy of being released during the global pandemic and not receiving a DVD or Blu-ray release in some territories.
Thankfully, The Night House isn’t difficult to track down and if you like disconcerting films with strong performances this is for you.
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about the One to Watch. For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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