Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat, Midnight Mass is spectacular in almost every conceivable way.
The directing, top-notch. The writing, exemplary. The cast, amazing. The cinematography, beautiful. The pacing, on-point. The score, haunting. It’s everything modern horror should be. It’s an analytical and objective look at religion and how those in power bend religious texts to their own agendas, presented as a slow-burn character-driven Netflix series. It’s enthralling in every sense of the word.
Midnight Mass is an understated limited series following a tight-knit group living on Crockett Island, an isolated fishing community. After a new priest arrives, a procession of miracles follows. This priest, as well as the rest of the community, hide dark secrets that slowly seep out.
While this series may sound cliche on the surface, it’s anything but. My description is also intentionally vague.
Midnight Mass is one of the most original and impactful series I’ve seen, regardless of if you were raised Catholic or not. Full disclosure, I was not. Whatever you expect to happen, throw it out the window. Director Mike Flanagan has created, directed and written the best horror series I’ve ever seen and one of the most essential watches of the year.
Whatever you do, don’t watch any of the teasers or trailers, they show too much and give you a better idea of what’s to come, go in blind if you can, you won’t regret it.
If you’re typically scared off by the horror genre, the vast majority of the series’ events don’t follow that formula. There are the occasional jumpscares, but they’re never false (like a cat jumping out of a cupboard) or unearned (no build-up). The majority of the horror comes from the existential dread the series makes you feel and the sheer hopelessness of the situation at hand. I will also say that Flanagan is clearly wearing his reverence for author and frequent collaborator Stephen King on his sleeve here. This series feels like King’s writings through and through, and I couldn’t possibly give it a higher compliment than that.
The reason for this series’ incredible quality is Mike Flanagan, one of the best working horror directors today, best known for Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House and Oculus. Flanagan, simply, just gets the genre and what makes something scary. He knows how to get the best performances out of his actors, who are all superb in this series. His writing is also superb, as per usual.
The cast, as previously mentioned, is an amazing ensemble. Hamish Linklater is the true standout, playing the mysterious priest Paul Hill. His sermons are powerful and feel real, even when they reach expected extremes. His private persona is the exact opposite, as he’s quiet and reserved, caring for the members of his community, perhaps too much. I can see Linklater getting nominated for or winning an Emmy for his performance, he’s just that good.
Kate Siegel is fantastic as the island’s teacher, Erin Greene. Siegel plays Ms. Greene, initially, as a quiet and reserved returnee to Crockett Island, but that changes as the series continues. Her performance is incredible, two scenes in particular stand out. One scene takes place in the final episode, it’s an exceptionally long monologue and is absolutely fantastic and heartbreaking to watch, thanks to her acting and Flanagan’s writing, from start to finish. The other is a scene between her and Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) where they discuss what they think happens when you die, it’s sure to stick with you long after your time with the series is over.
Speaking of Zach Gilford, his performance, especially in that scene, is beautiful. Gilford has the burden of being the de facto protagonist for the series and he carries it well. I wouldn’t say he’s the only protagonist though, Linklater and Siegel are also heavily featured. Because of this, the show has no main character, it switches perspectives constantly and that’s a great thing. It makes you feel like you truly get to know Crockett Island’s inhabitants and the island itself extremely well, like you’re a member of the community, too. By the end, it truly feels like you know where everything on the island is in relation to each other, it’s impressive to say the least.
Rahul Kohli plays Hassan, Crockett Island’s Sheriff, a recent addition to the island’s ranks and a devout Muslim, putting him and his son at odds with the mostly Catholic community. Any time he’s on-screen the series just gets better. If anyone in particular deserves a break into the mainstream because of this series, it’s Kohli. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t at least mention Samantha Sloyan’s portrayal of Beverly Keene, a bigoted devout Catholic who bends scripture to her will. She’s scary and pathetic all at the same time, manipulative and plotting. She stands out as one of the most hateable characters I’ve seen in a long time -- what a performance. As mentioned earlier, this whole cast is incredible, there are many names that won’t get the credit they deserve, but that doesn’t make them any less impactful. I’d give them all the awards if I could.
I previously mentioned how good the series cinematography is, but it’s hard to visualize without actually seeing the series for yourself. The color palette is often very cold, centering on blues and grays, something that’s evident from the start, but that changes as the series progresses to something warmer. This change is evident in the finale, which contains a beautiful, orange sunrise, as opposed to the usual Crockett Island weather, overcast and rainy. I have to give credit to the cinematographers, Michael Fimognari and James Kniest, who somehow managed to make consistently beautiful shots out of the consistently desolate, blue and seemingly dead Crockett Island.
The series also likes to hold its shots on its actors for prolonged periods of time, much longer than most projects would ever dare. When someone is monologuing, which happens a lot, the series rarely cuts away. You stay with these characters in their darkest and most personal moments, it’s probably the reason I felt so connected to them after just watching the premiere. The showcase of the cinematographers’, director’s and cast’s talent is in the seven-and-a-half-minute-long opening shot of “Book II: Psalms”, the series second episode, it’s awe-inspiring for a film geek like me. TV shows just typically don’t attempt things like that, they don’t have the time or budget to do so, so it makes it all the more special when long takes like that actually occur.
Despite calling it a slow-burn previously, the pacing here works wonders, I’ve seen others compare it to that of a novel and I would mostly agree with that sentiment. It’s not always trying to scare, in fact, it often isn’t at all. It pulls you into these characters’ lives and then scares you when things inevitably happen to them. It pulls off, with flying colors, what most horror struggles to do, make you care about the characters. The series truly feels like a seven-hour-long movie, but don’t let that length scare you off. It doesn’t feel anywhere close to that long and the time investment is worth it for the absolutely pitch-perfect finale and ending. Every episode, or book, as the series calls them, is absolutely essential and features moments of heartbreak, relatability, sorrow and terror.
If it isn’t clear by now, I have nothing but praise to throw at Midnight Mass.
It’s surprisingly deep and respectful in its religious commentary (of which there is plenty), unsettling in its presentation and style, flawless in its direction and writing, beautiful visually, astonishingly well-acted and completely enthralling for its entire seven-hour runtime. The only negative thing, if I really had to nitpick something in the series, is some bad-looking CGI seagulls in episode two that are around for a whole twenty seconds of screen time. Twenty seconds out of seven-plus hours is literally nothing in the grand scheme of things. I implore you to watch Midnight Mass, it’s worth every second of your time and, hopefully, will lead to more projects like it from both Flanagan and others down the line.
