Things Heard & Seen

Today's Netflix new "horror" release with the beautiful Amanda Seyfried is unfortunately too dull for horror and insufficiently tense for a drama. It's not a completely bad film, it's relatively well-made (but that's already a guarantee for every new Netflix film, so I don't see it as a positive). The problem is mostly the two-hour runtime and the fact that not much interesting happens most of the time. It's not very suspenseful or entertaining, it's not scary at all, and something interesting starts happening only in the final twenty minutes, though again, nothing extraordinary. The film reminded me a bit of The Amityville Horror, but it's not ambitious enough or audience friendly. But I guess it could appeal to some girls, so they can easily add a star and a half, the rest of the viewers won't miss out on anything. If there weren't so many slow and horror dramas coming out this year, I might have leaned towards giving it three stars, but I'm already fed up with them, so I'll be more uncompromising. 4/10. (04/29/2021)

It’s easy to criticize this film from all angles—starting with the Netflix production and ending with its confused identity about what it actually wants to be. I went into it expecting a horror movie, but it turns out it’s barely a horror at all. There are moments where it seems like it’s gearing up to be a ghost story, but that’s just a surface-level attempt to inject some tension. Honestly, I’d describe it more as a period drama with a solid small-town American atmosphere, which I always enjoy, and it’s one of the film’s strengths here. The mysterious house, the secrets surrounding it, and the odd locals—all of that works in the film’s favor. However, it ultimately ends up as more of a psychological drama about a crumbling marriage with a hint of thriller, rather than the horror it’s marketed as. Amanda Seyfried and James Norton did a great job as the married couple, which is why I ended up giving it three stars, even though there were moments when I wasn’t sure I’d make it through the script’s twists and turns. (05/12/2021)

It feels like it’s going to be a classic horror story - the family moves into a house where "something" happened and they are not alone. But in fact, it's a lot more than that. The atmosphere gradually thickens, it turns out that few things are really what you thought they were ten minutes ago, and who knows, in the end, maybe the supernatural will be the last thing you should be afraid of. Amanda Seyfried is perfect. (05/01/2021)