At a hospital for adults with serious illnesses, patients meet every night at midnight to share scary stories.
A change of scenery with The Midnight Club, a mostly teenage cast. But true to himself, Mike Flanagan also calls on actors he’s worked with in the past.
Anyone who watches Midnight Sermons on Netflix will recognize Zach Gilford as the nurse, Samantha Sloan (you know, the insufferable Bev Keen) as the quirky shaman and Matt Biddell (Sturge) as the handsome father of the heroine. But also Igby Rigney, one of the young inhabitants of the island. Ruth Cody, a disabled ticker of Irish descent, co-stars alongside Iman Benson (Alexa and Katie).
We know it from The Haunting of Hill House, Mike Flanagan is obsessed with houses, the place where his characters’ living demons and nightmares crystallize. It is no longer a family home that welcomes its ghosts, but a hospital called Brightcliffe that offers palliative care to dying teenagers. And in its corridors, it is something familiar, as if we have already set foot on it.
It is impossible to compare this huge residence with Hill House or Bly Manor. Here we are, looking every nook and cranny in search of a hidden ghost. Because we’re now familiar with Flannigan signing The Midnight Club for his fourth collaboration with Netflix.
Despite everything, the director continues to amaze us with this adaptation of Christopher Pike’s eponymous novel. We are no longer in the poetic horror of his two gamblers, nor in religious extremism with midnight sermons. The tone is different, the mechanics too. The director plays the horror card perfectly with his curse words. The first episode is full crying (assuming) that can surprise you or quickly annoy you (or both).
Midnight Club is a special work that is told in two stages. The action where the heroine Ilonka tries to decipher the secrets behind Brightcliff and the stories told by our dying adults every night. The latter especially fascinates me: we abandon the narrative and wait for the final result.
Fortunately, The Midnight Club isn’t as talky as Midnight Sermons (nor as pretentious). But it takes time with its 10 episodes, each one hour long. Expect announcements drop by drop. But as always with Flanagan, we’re primarily there for the atmosphere and a few scares.
Source: allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
