Having buried her husband recently, emotionally scarred, grief-stricken high-school teacher Beth returns to the spacious, eerily vacant lake house he built for her in the heart of a gloomy forest. But as pained Beth tries to pick up the pieces, before long, mysterious shadows and blood-curdling reflections on the windows start to taunt her, and suddenly, she finds herself opening boxes, rummaging through the deceased's belongings. And little by little, Beth's intense late-nig... (Full plot summary below)
Enjoy FREE movies and series with your Prime (USA) subscription or when you start a 30-day free trial!
Having buried her husband recently, emotionally scarred, grief-stricken high-school teacher Beth returns to the spacious, eerily vacant lake house he built for her in the heart of a gloomy forest. But as pained Beth tries to pick up the pieces, before long, mysterious shadows and blood-curdling reflections on the windows start to taunt her, and suddenly, she finds herself opening boxes, rummaging through the deceased's belongings. And little by little, Beth's intense late-night nightmares become increasingly vivid, taking a toll on her already fragile sanity. Now, pressing questions demand clear answers. Will Beth ever unearth the secret of the night house?
Leave your thoughts about The Night House.
| Original-CinKim HughesTaken either as a metaphor for mourning or as a straight-up fictional narrative with a paranormal bent, The Night House’s ending is as disturbing — and intriguing — as it gets. |
| The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Chandler LevackIt’s elegantly filmed and well constructed, building to a haunting climatic sequence that could sear your eyeballs. |
| Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerThat energy placed into making the audience look and listen out to the edges of the film makes Beth's central placement even more vital and enthralling; and by moving to The Night House, Hall is finally given the space that every previous performance has shown she deserves. |
| The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisAs the screenplay teases natural explanations for these sinister goings-on — Extreme grief? Nightmares? Mental illness? — Bruckner maintains a death grip on the film’s mood while his cinematographer, Elisha Christian, turns the home’s reflective surfaces into shape-shifting puzzle pieces. |
| Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangThe director, David Bruckner, doesn’t just mindlessly apply the electrodes; even when he jars you to attention, he always seems to be drawing you into something deeper and more atmospheric. He delivers a scare you can sink into. |
| Screen RantMae AbdulbakiUplifted by an incredible central performance by Hall, The Night House twists and turns, weaving terrifying visuals and jump-scares with thought-provoking and emotional story beats. The result makes for one of the best horror-thrillers of the year. |
| Rolling StoneGuy LodgeScreenwriters Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski lay the foundations for a conventionally well-built haunted-house chiller. But Bruckner (a V/H/S anthology alumnus who also gave us 2017’s tight little wilderness horror The Ritual) and Hall herself occasionally deviate from the plan, forming something a little more strange and sculptural. |
| The PlaylistJessica KiangBruckner’s elegantly crafted film falls some way short of its grandest ambitions, but still sends you out into the night with a chill in your bones and the hairs stiff on the back of your neck. |
| The Observer (UK)Simran HansThe fuzzy plotting is balanced by Hall’s brilliantly controlled performance as the caustic, sceptical Beth, whose grief has pushed her to the knife edge of sanity. |
| PolygonKeith PhippsThe film weaves a study of what it means to discover you’ve built your life over an abyss into the fabric of a multiplex-friendly horror movie, but it wouldn’t work without Hall’s deft, complex performance. |
