Mike Flanagan’s newest Netflix horror sequence remixes the prolific works of Edgar Allan Poe to create a humorous, unbelievable, f—ked up story concerning the rot of contemporary capitalism.
Netflix
Welcome to Up Subsequent, a recurring column keeping track of what’s new in TV. This week, TV critic Valerie Ettenhofer checks in with a evaluation of Mike Flanagan’s newest Netflix thriller, The Fall of the Home of Usher.
The Fall of the Home of Usher may not be Mike Flanagan’s most profound Netflix horror sequence so far (that’d be Midnight Mass), nor his most heartbreaking (The Haunting of Hill Home), but it surely’s actually his most enjoyable. The brand new restricted sequence reimagines the grisly poems and tales of Edgar Allan Poe in a stunning new context and has a blast with each twisted minute of it. Darkly humorous, sickly attractive, tonally wealthy, and disturbing as all get out, that is simply the most effective horror TV present of the yr – and among the best exhibits of the yr, interval.
The Usher household’s story begins with Roderick (Bruce Greenwood, performed by Zach Gilford in his youthful years) and sister Madeline (Mary McDonnell and Willa Fitzgerald), who decide within the ‘70s that units them on a course in direction of corruption – and wealth – that appears to haven’t any restrict. Within the current day, Roderick sits atop the throne at an organization referred to as Fortunato Prescribed drugs, which is actually a stand-in for Purdue Pharma, the actual firm that manufactured the fashionable opioid epidemic. Roderick and his six grownup children could on some degree be stand-ins for the Sacklers, however a few of them additionally really feel like they might’ve walked straight out of Succession.
The present’s construction is straightforward: in an previous, empty home, Roderick tells an investigator (Carl Lumbly) how every of his six kids died. We all know early on that Goop knock-off wellness guru Tamerlane (Samantha Sloyan), douchebag recreation developer Napoleon (Rahul Kohli), acid-tongued fixer Camille (Kate Siegel), medical researcher Victorine (T’Nia Miller), occasion boy Prospero (Sauriyan Sapkota), and inheritor obvious Frederick (Henry Thomas) will die, however that foresight by no means diminishes the expertise of watching them meet their maker. The Fall of the Home of Usher has among the most memorable kill scenes in current reminiscence; practically each episode ends on an ideal, punctuating mic drop after we’ve simply seen one thing horrifying. The present methodically breaks down any preliminary sympathy we might have had for these characters, then revels in ripping them aside – generally actually.
As with most of Flanagan’s works, the sequence is gorgeously shot and edited, chock stuffed with cinematic shot compositions and ominous imagery. It additionally advantages from a tightness that not each entry within the trendy horror grasp’s filmography has. Gone are nearly all of the loquacious, borderline-didactic monologues that make his works good or tiring relying on who you ask. The present luxuriates in ambiance and tone-setting, particularly in flashbacks that slowly reveal the character of the household’s authentic sin, but it surely in any other case strikes alongside at an addictive clip. In case your abdomen is powerful sufficient to deal with an onslaught of disturbing and kinky situations – a lot of them lifted straight from the thoughts of Poe himself – it’s straightforward sufficient to burn by means of this present in a single sitting.
This will likely even be Flanagan’s most bold venture so far. The solid is sprawling, the references are plentiful (I counted 18 Poe works alluded to all through, however there are most likely much more), and the message on the present’s heart, which it winds its technique to in a type of concentric circle story construction, is as targeted and efficient as the rest within the filmmaker’s oeuvre. The present could not make audiences shed many tears – these characters are, by and huge, method much less likable than any in Flanagan’s earlier 4 Netflix exhibits – but it surely coalesces right into a scathing, scorching tackle the ethical rot of late capitalism. Overt in its condemnation of some very trendy monsters, the present has a political edge that’s surprisingly satisfying.
The Fall of the Home of Usher makes use of many, many actors who’re by now most identified for his or her work with Flanagan, and whereas it’s a crowded taking part in subject, most everybody brings their A-game. Ruth Codd, the gifted younger actress who broke out in Flanagan’s and Leah Fong’s short-lived teen present The Midnight Membership, returns right here in a job that sneaks up on viewers over time, culminating in among the present’s strongest moments. McDonnell and Fitzgerald additionally do phenomenal work right here, whereas Greenwood has full command over every scene he’s in. Mark Hamill even exhibits up, taking part in a scary, stoic household fixer who usually manages to menace with out even lifting a finger.
In fact, there’s additionally the Poe of all of it. Literary students and die-hard Poe followers could also be break up on the present’s incorporation of the writer’s works, because the diversifications could be thought-about free at greatest and at odds with Poe’s intentions at worst. Some Poe tales play out practically the identical as they do on the web page, whereas others raise little greater than their identify from the poet’s bibliography. The artistic liberties aren’t inherently dangerous, although, and so they’re usually very, superb. When an episode does totally nail the supply materials, it’s not due to what Flanagan stored the identical, however due to what he and the writers’ room modified to make every story sharply trendy and ultra-specific. By now, although, it’s secure to say that the filmmaker is delivering the kind of wealthy, genre-expanding texts that should be studied in their very own proper. That is one among them, and it’s one you shouldn’t miss.
Associated Subjects: Mike Flanagan, Up Subsequent
