What to Watch This Weekend: The Night House, The Protege, Paw Patrol, Infinitum, Jakob's Wife, Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, John Q, Nine Perfect Strangers

For A Tense Atmospheric Horror Experience: The Night House (Theaters)

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.  For more information, check out the review!

For An Enjoyable Cat And Mouse Assassin Film: The Protege (Theaters)
The Protege's great cast, fun chemistry between the lead characters, and understated but brutal action make this one assassin film that is on target.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Microbudget Indie With Big Ideas: Infinitum: Subject Unknown (Digital)

Infinitum: Subject Unknown is an impressive indie feat that tackles some big ideas on a micro budget with beautiful cinematography and a time-looping story.  For more information, check out the review!

For The Kids: Paw Patrol: The Movie (Theaters and Paramount+)

Paw Patrol: The Movie has the puppies, rescues, and animation that makes the show so fun, with big city effects but a not big city run time. ` For more information, check out the review! 

For A Dramatic Retreat: Nine Perfect Strangers (Hulu)

Nine Perfect Strangers has a fantastic cast, who play a variety of broken characters, and an idyllic setting for this guru-inspired mind opening and altering experience.  For more information, check out the review!

For An Utterly Ridiculous And Hilarious Sequel: The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (Redbox)
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard's wonderful cast, random and ridiculous comedy, and amazing soundtrack make for the kind of laugh-out-loud movie we need right now.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Better Medical Family Drama: John Q (Showtime)

Sweet Girl came out on Netflix this week, but John Q is an overall better film that rails against the cost of the medical system without the ridiculous story and thriller aspects that Sweet Girl tried to introduce.  

For The Return Of A Horror Icon: Jakob's Wife (Shudder)
Jakob's Wife has an old school feel, strong characters, a great balance of dark comedy and horror, and a well-paced story that has plenty to sink your teeth into.  For more information, check out the review!

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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Screening: See Rebecca Hall in The Night House Early And Free

We have partnered with Fox Searchlight Pictures for an early screening of the unsettling looking horror film The Night House starring Rebecca Hall!  The film is coming to theaters on August 20, 2021, but you can check it out early and free!  Details and entry form are below!

The Night House

Cast:
Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Vondie Curtis Hall, Evan Jonigkeit, and Stacy Martin.

Director:
David Bruckner

Synopsis:
From director David Bruckner comes THE NIGHT HOUSE.  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.

Rating:
R

 Screening Info:

The Night House

Monday, August 16th

AMC Tysons Corner

7:00pm

Screening Link!