The Night House Review: Rebecca Hall Shines In This Atmospheric Horror Film

Release date: August 20, 2021
Running time: 101 minutes
Directed by David Bruckner
Screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski
Cast:  Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Vondie Curtis Hall, Evan Jonigkeit, and Stacy Martin

Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep it together – but then nightmares come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house calling to her, beckoning her with a ghostly allure. Against the advice of her friends, she begins digging into her husband’s belongings, yearning for answers. What she finds are secrets both strange and disturbing – a mystery she’s determined to unravel.

The Night House is exactly the kind of movie I would expect to love, an atmospheric horror movie that progresses slowly and doesn't try to do too much.  The film has a wonderful, unsettling setting and enough scares to keep you on your toes, but ones that slowly build. The setting itself lends so much to this film's atmosphere, as it is set on a somewhat isolated lake house that is quiet during the day and pitch dark at night.  And the film doesn't try to do too much, it just keeps building onto this world with unsettling occurrences and a few extra hints at what is going on.  It is a wonderfully tense film that usually relies on the unknown for scares rather than jumps cares.  Although it does do jumps cares occasionally, the majority of the scares in this film are from atmospheric events rather than pure noise.  

Propelling the film's story relies almost exclusively on Rebecca Hall, who rises to the occasion as you would expect.  Much of the film involves her interacting with a ghostly presence, so the story really does rely on her and her alone.  And she does not disappoint.  Occasionally the world of The Night House will be occupied by others, but for the majority of the film it is a Rebecca Hall show.  And although the film is driven by her (including the scares and tension), The Night House also relies on the great setting to sell the scares.  I loved the house and the late night scenarios that unfolded.  It left the viewer always wondering what would happen next.  And sometimes nothing would happen, leading to a great build up and keeping the viewer on their toes.  And as the film progressed, more of the strange mystery began to unravel.

However, although I did enjoy the Night House a lot, there were some minor issues with it. The most important is the story that just doesn't quite come together.  It had plenty of mysteries and some gruesome, disturbing scenes, but overall I was expecting a more coherent payoff given the genuinely great start of the film.  And the movie explores some concepts that just don't seem fully realized.  Rebecca Hall makes some discoveries that are then not incorporated into the overall story.  And the rules of some of the revelations that occur just do not seem fully fleshed out.  And on top of some of the loose ends, it is still an ultimately unsatisfying ending that seems to end a little too quickly.  

The Night House's unsettling setting and great performance by Rebecca Hall will have you jumping at every creek or reflection, and sleeping with the lights on. 

Watch it.

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The Night House is in theaters on August 20, 2021.  For showtimes, click here.

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