By: Ica Hontiveros-Cheng
“In a tiny village that is so sleepy, that it is almost dead,” is a line in Mike Flanagan’s latest horror-thriller limited series ‘Midnight Mass’. The line describes the small New England fishing town of Crockett Island, which is where the Netflix series takes place.
The series opens when the island’s prodigal son, Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) a former capitalist returns to Crockett island after spending four years in jail, for drunk driving, which resulted in a woman’s death. The woman, like in Flanagan’s recent works The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor (I am an avid fan of the former) haunts Riley as a disfigured specter every night before he sleeps.
The island becomes witness to a number of miracles which start happening when the mysterious Father Paul (Hamish Linklater) takes the place of their aged Monseigneur John Pruitt, who is currently recovering after a trip to the holy land. While the miracles have brought life back to the dwindling numbers of the island’s parish church, there is an evil that lurks beneath the shadows and these ‘miracles’ may not be what they seem.
The 7 episode series’ drops its big reveal on the third episode and while audiences may think that’s a little too soon. Flanagan’s has a few too long lines, dialogues and monologues, that viewers might actually find it slow, I have to admit that I zoned out a bit in some of these wordy and preachy dialogues but let me tell you that the reveal and payoff are worth it. It’s a slow burn but when the chips fall into place, the characters face a frightening ordeal, that makes up of our deepest and darkest nightmares.
Growing up in a ‘cradle to the grave’ Catholic family and marrying into one, I was able to relate with the many religious themes of the series, it was just rather creepy that these themes tie-in with many themes in horror. It made me realize that there are many elements of horror and violence in the bible, most specifically in the Old Testament and Revelations. Which also brings us to the dangers of quoting bible passages for our own personal gain. Enter the blindly devout fanatic Bev Keane played to a tee by Samantha Sloyan. Bev is like many pious church-goers, who are quick to cast the first stone when judging their neighbors. Bev will also throw in a bible verse just to give more shade, all the while, smiling her poisonous smile. Sloyan is so effective in her portrayal that she will surely be the new character that fans will love-to-hate.
The series is a personal one for horror auteur Mike Flanagan, who draws from his experiences as an altar boy growing up. Flanagan also taps into his struggles with alcoholism, he has since been sober since 2018. In an article on the New York Times talks about his personal horrors which made their way into the series. “I come from a long line of drunken Irishman. But my biggest fear wasn’t that I would die in a drunken car accident. It was that I would kill someone else and live. That is the beating of ‘Midnight Mass’.”
Those familiar with Stephen King’s oeuvre, will surely notice its influence in ‘Midnight Mass’: a small, isolated New England town, a recovering alcoholic, a religious fanatic, an ancient evil, it’s all there. Viewers have even noted ‘Midnight Mass’ as having a bit of ‘Salem’s Lot’, ‘The Shining’ and even ‘Carrie’ mixed in it. Flanagan is no stranger to King’s works, even adapting two of them (Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep) and the two have a mutual respect for each other. In a tweet, King even sung praises for ‘Midnight Mass.
Not all horror viewers may appreciate or even last through Flanagan’s gradual build up or too long dialogues. Others may find his ‘horror-hiding-in-plain-sight’ or ‘blink-and-you-miss-it’ ghouls and specters lacking, I for one am a fan. But hey, to each there own cup of horror tea right? Some viewers may be looking for more jump scares and they may not necessarily find it in ‘Midnight Mass’ but if that final conflict in episode 6-7 doesn’t terrify you, then nothing will.
It’s been days since I finished ‘Midnight Mass’ and I’m still thinking about it. I’d lock the doors behind me, draw the curtains at night and play a show as white-noise when I’m alone. I have to have schemes and techniques so I won’t think of the scariest scenes from the series. That’s the kind of horror that Flanagan creates, one that stays with you long after you’ve seen it, one that lurks in the dark, then leaps out unexpectedly when you least expect it.