MIDNIGHT MASS on Netflix

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 9/28/21 at 10:37pm

Someone brought it up on the Sex Education thread, but I think the show is good enough for it's own dedicated thread.

Midnight Mass is one of the best Netflix originals I've seen in a long time. Their stuff has always been kind of hit or miss, but this show was a big, big hit for me.

I'm a lapsed Catholic with addiction in my family, and this show hit a lot of really personal notes for me, while still being spine-chillingly scary. There are lots of twists and turns that I did not see coming, and the cast is top to bottom stellar (especially Hamish Linklater as the priest.)

Please check out this show.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 9/29/21 at 4:37pm

I'm half way through and loving it so far. t's a character driven slow burn that we don't often see in horror.

I'm a big fan of Mike Flanigan. Looking forward to finishing it this weekend.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 9/29/21 at 4:55pm

Brace yourself. Episode 7 made me feel emotions I didn't know a TV show could make me feel.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/29/21 at 5:12pm

Horror series are tricky. Is it actually scary?

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 9/29/21 at 6:43pm

Yes and no. Mike Flanagan is very much in the horror pocket when it comes to his filmmaking, but he does it in a more cerebral way. There is some gore and a few jump scares, but he focuses more on slowly upping the tension and anxiety, while never losing focus of drama and character development. I think it's a show that will satisfy people who love horror and people who hate it.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 9/30/21 at 7:42pm

I am intrigued. 

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 9/30/21 at 8:22pm

Thanks for answering Sutton’s question. I too don’t like much horror. I don’t mind suspense, but a lot of horror can trigger some old trauma and mess me up for days if not weeks.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 9/30/21 at 9:32pm

I just finished.

Alex you were right...that was a stunning ending.

There's some pretty horrific stuff here. But it's not focused on jump scares or tons of gore. And it's surprisingly emotional. I found myself crying more than once (especially at the end of episode 5).

Flanagan has become one of the best adapters of Stephen King. This reminded me of a King when he's writing at the top of his game. A scary but compelling story with characters you care deeply about.

I'll be thinking about that ending for a long time. Can't wait to see what he does next.

If you're going to watch I recommend going in with as few spoilers as possible. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 10/1/21 at 9:21am

I mostly loved it.

I think 7 episodes was the perfect length of time to explore this story and these characters, but I could have done with a little more time living in the chaos of the final night. It all felt a little too rushed and a little too pat.

Kate Siegel was maybe not to best choice for Erin, as she’s perhaps the weakest actor in the ensemble and I found it hard to connect with her. Especially disappointing, as her final monologue is written so intriguingly, I couldn’t help but wish a better actor were in her role. Annabeth Gish, on the other hand, is quietly the MVP of the whole series. A lot is made of Hamish Linklater’s performance (which starts promisingly but I think gets a little lost in the sauce once his intentions are revealed), but Gish’s performance was surprisingly the heart of it for me.

I loved the matter-of-factness of the whole thing. It was refreshingly bleak and unsparing. The world building made it easy to accept that this community would be so easily overtaken by religious fervor, and that’s a testament to Mike Flanagan’s storytelling abilities. That he’s able to take us to some truly wild places, plotwise, and make them seem utterly natural. It felt like a good novel; descriptive and sprawling and a little bit messy.