Member-only story
Review: ‘Absentia’ — Mike Flanagan’s Terrifying Horror Debut
The ‘Life of Chuck’ and ‘Haunting of Hill House’ director started strong with this eerie melodrama
Director Mike Flanagan has gradually proven himself time and time again as one of the most mature horror directors currently working in America. After breaking through with 2013’s Oculus, released two years after today’s film Absentia, Flanagan pushed himself into the mainstream of modern horror with a mixture of tightly contained thrillers and larger-scale Netflix miniseries. His scale and ambition grew with his talent and the acclaim his work was given followed that same curve. Hush’s one-location thrills pulled primarily on its concept of having our protagonist be deaf during a home invasion attack, seemingly limiting our lead and making her more vulnerable but later proving to actually be an asset in her effort to escape a masked intruder. Just two years later, Flanagan’s expansive The Haunting of Hill House miniseries brilliantly took its time and spent five hours introducing its ensemble cast and their backgrounds before delving into the lingering fears, ghosts and demons which haunted this cursed home and family.
Hill House was such a success — deservingly so, it is brilliant — that it allowed Flanagan to take on more exciting projects. Not only…
