The Haunting of Bly Manor Review: An earnest attempt at rediscovering the horror genre that comes with its obvious flaws.
Back in 2018, Mike Flanagan delivered arguably the biggest word-of-mouth sensations of that year with “The Haunting of Hill House,” but the second instalment of the Haunting series which dropped last week on Netflix is completely poles apart from its sister story. Adapted from Jame’s Novella’s “The Turn of the Screw”, this instalment of the popular series is strikingly different from the run of the mill horror stories as the main backbone of the story lies in the complexities of human emotions and experimental storytelling.
The series doesn’t employ the well know clichéd tropes used in horror films and much like its predecessor pays more attention to the humane angle of these supernatural stories. This 9 episodic series is set in the Bly county of 1980’s England where love and relationships in their different manifestations haunt the residents of the manor.
The series is very ambitious in its treatment and idea but to its main discredit takes a lot of time to finally set up the story. We at first meet Dani the au pair who has come to England to run away from her troubled past and she manages to get a job where she is assigned to take care of two recently orphaned children Miles and Flora. The series leaves a lot of loose threads hanging at the beginning and takes a long time to gather all the threads much to the frustration of the viewers. The Manor is populated by a lot of misfortunes and deaths. The three characters and the other members of the house — namely the cook, the gardener and the housekeeper are equally pivotal to the progress of the script. A sense of poetic solitude looms at large over the whole story which quite easily blends with its setting of the secluded yet beautiful manor.
The series focuses largely on the original story and pays lesser heed to the quintessential ghost aspect of the series even though the supernatural creatures are at plenty and they quite frequently make their presence felt prominently. We get a first-hand view of the horrifying everyday life that the children live in the house and the creator has done a commendable job by not distracting us from the main story. This series is not about the thrill or surprise that we generally associate with this genre, but it is about the acceptance, familiar mundaneness and selfless care.
The main highlights of the series are its narrative and its different themes. The series quite expertly juggles between different narratives and timelines which will probably leave you scratching your head in some episodes. The series is crowded with numerous subplots but it never feels overcrowded and every subplot is given enough time (and sometimes more than required) to mature and in the process sometimes testing your patience. The voiceover which is narrating the story doesn’t match the mood and aesthetic of the series and somewhat feels inorganic and out of place. The screenplay which isn’t that engaging at the beginning of the series slowly gathers pace and you are sure to be rewarded later on.
The other main theme which the series deals with is that it is our loved ones that haunt us- it’s their love towards us haunts us. The series at large explores the idea of love through different viewpoints and different bonds. It addresses the age-old conversation regarding how the memories of the people who have left us still haunts and pain us. The characters have developed a habitual familiarity and normalcy with the existence of the ghosts and learn to live with them similarly as they have slowly learnt live with their troubled past. The show also explores the theme of the unending cycle of life and existentialism. The cage that we have built around ourselves with worldly possessions is the sole cause of why we are trapped in this unending cycle of suffering. The theme of love is perhaps the strongest point of the series, with longing, tenderness, and compassion flowing as strong undercurrent giving the story the much needed humane touch. The series tries and to some extent creates an environment of gothic romance and it is so refreshing for once to see a series of this genre venturing in these terrains.
The ghosts in the series are all strikingly different from each other and none are “evil”, with each of them trapped in this maze of the afterlife, some willingly and others to their utter misfortune. Some of them are peaceful and tired to be walking this endless road leading to a void and have receeded to a state of passiveness owing to probably hundreds of failed attempts to espace from this maze. While some whose memories and sense of individuality have long faded are still driving towards an unknown goal with a sense of routine and industrial effort to attain something about which probably they have no idea now.
The background score and the production design of the series are quite commendable and for a series of this kind which derives a lot from its atmosphere, this aspect was crucial. The ensemble cast comprising of Flanagan regulars deliver solid performances. The two child actors- Amilie Bea Smith and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth are just “perfectly splendid’- period. There has been a lot of discussion and praises about the performance of Victoria Pedretti who has a resting face of sadness but I found her quite average and bland in some scenes especially when she was pitted against the exceptional cast. Flanagan regulars like Kate Seigel, Henry Thomas and Oliver Jackson-Cohen each deliver strong performances. But the two actors who stand out are T’Nia Miller and Rahul Kohli who look at ease and play their role with a lot of confidence and charisma respectively.
All in all the series is a great attempt in the right direction. Though the series might disappoint horror fans and might test your patience for the longest time, this series is a living proof of how unexplored the genre of horror with its multiple facets is and I for once can’t wait for what Flanagan does next in this experimental front.
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