THE NIGHT HOUSE

US, 2020, 107 minutes, Colour.

Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Evan Jonigkeit, Stacey Martin.

Directed by David Bruckner.

With a title like The Night House, it is not a surprise that this is a film about haunting.

And, for audiences who like dramas about haunted houses (rather than gory thrillers), there is much to enjoy, much to mystify.

Rebecca Hall appears in every sequence. She is Beth, teacher, discovering that her husband of 15 years, Owen, has taken a boat out on the lake and shot himself. She is grieving, bewildered. But, she has a friend, Clare, Sarah Goldberg, who is very supportive. And there is the local old man, Mel, Blondie Curtis-Hall, who has been a friend of Beth and her husband for years.

But, here really, things do go bump in the night. Has Owen returned? There are suggestions of his presence. Radios go on, Gates to a jetty are open, mud footprints are seen. On the one hand, as Clare says, Beth is particularly rational and sceptical but she is caught up in the mysterious goings on in the house, even affecting her in vivid dreams, sleepwalking, dangers. At one stage, she explains to Clare that as a teenager, she had an accident, her heart stopping for four minutes, her having a near-death experience but experiencing – nothing. This also seems to be coming back to haunt her, in the suicide note left her by her husband..

And, of course, Owen had secrets. A creative architect, he has many designs for their house as well as a mysterious house being built in the woods. The books he bought from a local bookshop, as well as photos on Owen’s phone, lead to a young woman who works in the bookshop, who reveals some secrets about Owen, relationships, and the mysterious new house.

As the film goes on, more mysteries for Beth, more dreams, more hauntings, ultimately her sitting in the boat was a mysterious presence, with a gun…

Some explanations are offered but, after all the detailed close-ups and time with Beth, The Night House ends abruptly.

1. The title? The family home? The building in progress and abandoned?
2. The American setting, the woods and the water, the home and the interiors, the second home, school, bookshop? The musical score and atmosphere?
3. The opening, Beth and her grief, funeral atmosphere? Alone in the house, looking at various mementos, photos…? Her going to school, the meeting with Clare, the student mother, aggressive, Beth revealing what it happened, the audience learning about Owen and his suicide? The mystery of his suicide?
4. Clare, good friend, supportive, taking Beth out, meeting the friends, the discussions, Clare embarrassed, asking about the suicide, the revelation of the note, the mystery of its meaning, Beth later explaining, her accident in the past, heart stopping for four minutes, near death experience, experiencing nothing? Owen and his response?
5. Beth at home, sounds, creaking, suggestions of people present, atmosphere of ghosts? The open gate, going down to the jetty, the mud footprints…? Beth asking the friends about believing in ghosts? Her sense of’ Owen’s presence? Human images, disappearing?
6. Beth, the details of her nightmare, sleepwalking and Owen’s past, Owen and his involvement? Seeing him naked at the water? Later appearances? And the alternate presence, appearing like Owen, his revelation about being the presence during her near-death experience? Her having to acknowledge this, his coming back, taking possession of Owen?
7. The mementos, Owen and his house designs, the book references, the reverse images? The photos on his phone? The lookalike in the bookshop? Beth looking at the books, the mystery, the decision to go to the bookshop, meeting Madelyn, the discussions, the relationship? Madelyn coming to the house, explaining she had been there before, the meetings with Owen, his approach, her going to the house in progress? The other photos on the phone, Beth lookalikes?
8. Beth, the increasing haunting experiences, the increasing dreams, nightmarish?
9. Mel, his friendship, contact over the years, meeting on the path, the discussions about the house, going to see him, his explanation of having to keep the secrets?
10. The growing pressure on Beth, the mysterious man in Owen’s form, the discussions, her dreaming, being on the boat, his presence, the gun, the temptation to shoot herself?
11. Clare coming, Mel arriving, their calling out to Beth, her recovering her consciousness? Saved? The film ending abruptly?