The Night House

<p>Join Cam and Maggie for a discussion of David Bruckner's unnerving, masterful new horror film, <em>The Night House. </em>So many of our <em>Lord of the Rings </em>discussions have centered around echoes and twisted callbacks, and this film takes those ideas and runs a marathon with them. As a work of surreal grief horror, the story deftly avoids all the major modern tropes and pitfalls of the subgenre and brilliantly swerves into shocking, satisfying character moments. We spend a lot of time praising Rebecca Hall's knockout lead performance, which elevates the tight, efficient script with nuance, humanity, and a striking, grounded humor that we have never seen executed this well. There's also some analysis of the film's scary-smooth transitions into the dreamworld, and the narrative effect of Beth's restless journey. Reference points include <em>Sinister, Hereditary, The Exorcist, </em>and <em>The Conjuring.</em></p> <p>In our spoiler section, we unpack the film's ending with <em>The VVitch </em>as a touchstone, and then Cam goes on another (evidence-supported) rant about another story he likes <em>really </em>being a Faustus story the whole time. Is Maggie convinced? Listen to the end and find out - oh, and go support this movie. Independent, non-franchise horror is the spice of life, and the pandemic box office is pretty brutal right now. </p> <p>Instagram: @secondbreakfastpod</p> <p>Feedback & Theories: <a href= "mailto:secondbreakfastpod@gmail.com">secondbreakfastpod@gmail.com</a></p> <p>Illustrated YouTube clips channel: <a href= "https://bit.ly/2OT6RP3">https://bit.ly/2OT6RP3</a></p>