Are you a fan of horror shows and wishing to check out something new, then the short film The House can be perfect for you. Honestly, some of the scenes of the movie made me remember the psychological fear experienced while I watched Haunting of the Hill House. Never been an animation movie so scary but at the same time so fascinating.
The short film The House Netflix release date was 14th of January 2022 and now you can get full access to the movie on Netflix. It is a comparatively shorter animation movie having a 97 minutes run time. The comprises of three different stories of three different time periods about three different and apparently unrelated protagonists and the only common point between the three stories is the horror that the protagonists experience in the house they become involved with. Without spoiling the story I have tried to give a brief glimpse of the movie here.
What is The House Netflix movie?
Chapter 1
The movie begins with “Chapter 1” set in the 1800s. This part of the movie follows the story of Raymond, a poor man who suffers from anxiety about his family’s position. Raymond has a wife and children and with these characters begins the “origin story”. In this seemingly uncomplicated and comparatively straightforward story, an unfamiliar architect offered to build Raymond and his family a new house for free, but only with one condition.
He seized the opportunity. Even though his wife at first seems a bit unhappy about the condition of not being able to carry anything from the old house, she forgets about it when she finds an unexpected surprise in the new house. Then the catastrophe happens. This part of short film The House is really simple but has some really eerie scenes. The lack of furniture in an empty house creates a distinct chill contrasting with the overflowing warmth of a family cottage. Dark hallways and winding stairs somehow add to the discomfort that continues throughout the film.
Chapter 2
This stands out in the trio with increased absurdity and pretentiousness in short film The House. This section is set in modern times. This is the present that highlights the “claustrophobic chamber drama” that the film claims to project. The story follows a nameless developer who buys the house with the intent of selling it for a profit. However, things go far from planned and the story shows his gradual descend into madness.
The protagonist of this short film The House, an anthropomorphic rat, sunk all his savings into flipping the house. A developer plagued by a bank and invading bugs takes pride in the project, and his despair is manifested in frenzied energy. The story does not contain much jump scared or conventional horror scenes but its mastery lies in the claustrophobic mad atmosphere it creates.
The developer’s frenzy to have control but lacking it gives this particular story a kind of existential crisis that is really unsettling. Some of the scenes like viewers falling one by one while waving their arms or gross bugs crawling add to the psychological horror showing the angst of the protagonist of this short film The House.
Chapter 3
This is the final story of the short film The House that is set in a post-apocalyptic futurist world. This is perhaps the one amongst the three stories that feels so unreal and yet as if more real than reality itself. The protagonist is an anthropomorphized cat named Rosa who lives in a world that is flooded. While the entire world is flooded Rosa is hopeful that she can bring her childhood home to former glory and things will be all right.
All the tenants that has ever rented this house is now gone and the last two are also planning to leave. But Rosa refuses to leave hope and obsesses over renovating the house, almost as if in a frenzy. The bright wallpapers and the white mist-like atmosphere invokes the dream like quality that perhaps represents Rosa’s mental state and unrealistic aspirations regarding the house that is fated to nothing but doom.
The story somewhere gives subtle commentary upon real world people who hold high voices about climate change but make less or no significant efforts for the cause. There can also be found some interesting commentary about private property.
The House Netflix cast:
For the three stories with anthropomorphized muppets, rat, and cats respectively as protagonists, the movie does a brilliant job with the cast of voice actors. For the first story directed by Emma de Swaef & Marc James Roels, we have Claudie Blakley, Matthew Goode, Mia Goth, Mark Heap, Miranda Richardson, Josh McGuire, and Stephanie Cole in significant roles.
The second story by director Niki Lindroth von Bahr has Jarvis Cocker, Dizzee Rascal,Yvonne Lombard, and Sven Wollter. The third story directed by Paloma Baeza has Susan Wokoma, Helena Bonham Carter, Paul Kaye, and Will Sharpe. The dark comedy is produced by Nexus Studios in London.
Final Remarks:
The movie has done phenomenal job with animation. The three stories fit well perfectly to create the uneasy sensation that makes this a masterpiece. While the first story seems like an exposition, the second story intensifies the claustrophobic horror, and the third story itself acts like a flood and the remaining uneasy emptiness.
If you wish for an adrenaline packed visual horror with a lot of jump scares and scary ghosts, this movie might not be a good choice. This is more of a psychological horror that draws you slowly into its claustrophobic world which feels impossible to escape. With its mind blowing animation and intense music, the movie acts like a macabre. If you are unsure if you want to watch the movie or not, you can first check out The House Netflix trailer that released on December 2021.
However, if you do choose to watch the movie, I can assure you, it is not a movie that you will watch and forget. This movie made me feel empty for days, something that good psychological horrors generally do. Be prepared to have the urge to look under your bed and be creeped out by the cracks of your house for a couple od days due to the hangover of this movie.
