Filmmaker Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) and Netflix have teamed up once again with Midnight Mass, a new 7-episode limited series that released on September 24th. The series boasts an incredible cast, including Kate Siegel (Hush), Zach Gilford (Friday Night Lights), Hamish Linklater (The Big Short), Samantha Sloyan (Hush), and Rahul Kohli (The Haunting of Bly Manor).
Midnight Mass follows a smattering of characters, all living on the isolated Crockett Island, a small and religious fishing town in the northeast. Most of the town has moved away due to their economic collapse after a nearby oil spill, but a few dozen inhabitants remain, trying to rekindle the island’s love of God after the arrival of a young and enthusiastic priest. As strange and miraculous events begin to appear throughout the town, several of its people start to suspect a darker agenda.
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Starting with the story and setting, Flanagan hits home runs. The tiny, isolated seaside town is home to some of my favorite horror films (The Fog, Dead & Buried), and is such a great setting for transporting the audience away from the rest of the world, making us feel like it’s impossible to call for help or escape. In all of the best ways possible, this story felt like it was written by Stephen King. Mike Flanagan is no stranger to King stories, as he’s a superfan and has adapted both Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep to film. He takes the comparisons as the highest compliments, and Midnight Mass belongs right there with stories like The Storm of the Century, Revival, or Salem’s Lot. If you love those books and the characters within, you’re going to love the story behind Midnight Mass.
Regarding the characters, Midnight Mass did an excellent job moving the focus around the board to develop many of them deeply throughout the episodes. Some characters had more depth than others, and more screentime devoted to them. A few examples being: Riley (Gilford), a man just off a four-year prison sentence for drunk driving and killing another driver, who returned home to Crockett Island to find a fresh start with his family who lives there. Erin (Siegel), a pregnant woman who left Crockett Island years ago, wound up in an abusive relationship and escaped back to her hometown to raise the baby in safety. Sheriff Hassan (Kohli), one of the only non-Christian members of the Crockett community, trying to raise his son and continue his Muslim beliefs in an extremely judgmental town.
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There were two major acting standouts of the series. The first being Hamish Linklater as Father Paul, who commanded most of the dialogue and was the center of the story. His sermons were sincere and delivered so perfectly, that even being a non-religious person myself, they resonated with me and made me feel like I was part of the Crockett Island community. The second standout was the delightfully horrible Bev Keane, portrayed by Samantha Sloyan. Coming from a small religious town in the Midwest, Bev Keane was every single steamrolling, judgmental, hypocritical bully I’ve ever met. From the first moment I saw Bev Keane on screen, I got strong Annie Wilkes (Misery) and Mrs. Carmody (The Mist) vibes.
Unlike The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass puts the eye much more frequently on the horror of people than it does the supernatural. Sure, there are supernatural things afoot in Midnight Mass, but it’s much more reliant on the creepiness and unpredictable nature of humans than it is the unknown. To move away from the Stephen King comparisons, this idea reminds me a lot of what Robert Kirkman did with The Walking Dead, as the zombies always felt like a secondary part of that story. I really loved this approach.
I had two very minor issues with the series. The first being that some visual effects missteps were excessively distracting from otherwise beautifully shot cinematography. Due to story development, several of the younger actors were dressed in old-age makeup, and it didn’t look great. I understand the reasons behind doing things this way, but I just wish the visual execution was better. I found it distracting from some really heartfelt moments in these scenes.
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My other issue was with some extremely drawn-out, wordy monologues and dialogue. Though I appreciate the amount of research that went into the religious aspects of what Father Paul was saying to the church, some of his sermons began getting long-winded and grating. I know this was intentional, which again, is why this is a minor complaint, I just wish some of this time could have gone to learning more about the island’s characters and their pasts or relationships with one another.
As a series, I thought Midnight Mass was fantastic. It rode the perfect line of keeping the audience creeped out but extremely invested in many of its characters, while weaving in a creative and bleak story, fully taking advantage of being in the horror genre. I completely recommend binging through this one during the spooky season.
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