The Netflix model of producing TV shows is pretty simple: Produce original content hand-over-foot to replace more expensive network shows they don't want to re-license. As a result of this strategy, a lot of B or C-level fare gets shuffled through the main menus. Every once in awhile, though, a show transcends the formula and becomes a bona-fide masterpiece. "The Haunting of Hill House" is firmly one of those shows.
For a basic plot summary, "Hill House" begins by introducing a 1960s family (the Crains) living in the notoriously haunted Hill House. Hugh (Henry Thomas) is flipping the house as a fixer-upper, and wife Olivia (Carla Gugino) is a designer ready to provide the finishing touches. In tow are children Shirley (Lulu Wilson), Theo (McKenna Grace), Steven (Paxton Singleton), Luke (Julian Hilliard), and Nell (Violet McGraw). One night, after viewing a series of startling apparitions, Hugh gathers the children and drives away from Hill House forever...leaving Olivia apparently standing in the window looking down at the whole scene.
Now, flash-forward to the present day, and the siblings are scattered to the winds. The death of Nell (Victoria Pedretti) brings them all back under the same roof for the first time since "that night", each harboring their own internal demons:
-Steven (Michiel Huisman) is a writer who mocks his own ghostly childhood experiences -Shirley (Elizabeth Reiser) is a control-freak funeral director -Luke (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is a junkie in rehab -Theo (Kate Siegel) is an uninspired soul harboring a secret ability -Father Hugh (Timothy Hutton) is mostly an absentee dad now, muttering to himself and spouting mysterious statements about Hill House
The rest of the series ostensibly takes place in this "present day", flashing back to the "younger years" in building up to what exactly happened "that night" and how it was all dealt with.
One could categorize this show as "horror", and likely get away with it. It is a show containing ghosts and hauntings, after all, most of which are legitimately spooky in some fashion or other. However, that really isn't what "Hill House" is about, per se. No, at heart this is as gripping of a family drama as one will ever watch.
Aside from all the spooks, if you will, this show tells a generational story that continues to build upon itself and create almost an obsessive need (for the viewers) to find out exactly what happened to these characters (past and present). The child actors are utterly incredible, which gets the stage, and the adult versions are eerily representative of how actual families interact with each other. There are no punches pulled here.
I got very much an "It" vibe with this show, with the exploits of children and adults playing out at times almost simultaneously. It also is somewhat similar to fellow Netflix Original "Dark" for the generational themes. In all honesty, I perhaps can't think of any better company for this show to keep!
I think the bottom line for me with "Haunting of Hill House" is this: come for the scary aspects if you will, but if that isn't your thing please realize there is so much more here. It truly is an almost perfect blend of horror, mystery, science fiction, and drama. With the only competition being the aforementioned "Dark", this may be my favorite Netflix Original to the point.
For a basic plot summary, "Hill House" begins by introducing a 1960s family (the Crains) living in the notoriously haunted Hill House. Hugh (Henry Thomas) is flipping the house as a fixer-upper, and wife Olivia (Carla Gugino) is a designer ready to provide the finishing touches. In tow are children Shirley (Lulu Wilson), Theo (McKenna Grace), Steven (Paxton Singleton), Luke (Julian Hilliard), and Nell (Violet McGraw). One night, after viewing a series of startling apparitions, Hugh gathers the children and drives away from Hill House forever...leaving Olivia apparently standing in the window looking down at the whole scene.
Now, flash-forward to the present day, and the siblings are scattered to the winds. The death of Nell (Victoria Pedretti) brings them all back under the same roof for the first time since "that night", each harboring their own internal demons:
-Steven (Michiel Huisman) is a writer who mocks his own ghostly childhood experiences -Shirley (Elizabeth Reiser) is a control-freak funeral director -Luke (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is a junkie in rehab -Theo (Kate Siegel) is an uninspired soul harboring a secret ability -Father Hugh (Timothy Hutton) is mostly an absentee dad now, muttering to himself and spouting mysterious statements about Hill House
The rest of the series ostensibly takes place in this "present day", flashing back to the "younger years" in building up to what exactly happened "that night" and how it was all dealt with.
One could categorize this show as "horror", and likely get away with it. It is a show containing ghosts and hauntings, after all, most of which are legitimately spooky in some fashion or other. However, that really isn't what "Hill House" is about, per se. No, at heart this is as gripping of a family drama as one will ever watch.
Aside from all the spooks, if you will, this show tells a generational story that continues to build upon itself and create almost an obsessive need (for the viewers) to find out exactly what happened to these characters (past and present). The child actors are utterly incredible, which gets the stage, and the adult versions are eerily representative of how actual families interact with each other. There are no punches pulled here.
I got very much an "It" vibe with this show, with the exploits of children and adults playing out at times almost simultaneously. It also is somewhat similar to fellow Netflix Original "Dark" for the generational themes. In all honesty, I perhaps can't think of any better company for this show to keep!
I think the bottom line for me with "Haunting of Hill House" is this: come for the scary aspects if you will, but if that isn't your thing please realize there is so much more here. It truly is an almost perfect blend of horror, mystery, science fiction, and drama. With the only competition being the aforementioned "Dark", this may be my favorite Netflix Original to the point.