Robert Scucci | updated
One day I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon it. the house On Netflix. Originally, I was looking for an animated show for my kids to enjoy over the weekend. When I saw the title card the houseI knew immediately that the content hinged on the surreal and macabre aspects of domestic life, and the TV-MA rating pretty much confirmed my assumption that it shouldn’t be shown. the house Soon to my 3 and 6 year olds.
I ignored my parents’ attention and watched. the house For my own personal enjoyment, I will tell everyone who has a Netflix account to watch this dark anime anthology special until they get tired of hearing me talk about it.
the house The work is divided into three 30-minute parts following completely different timelines within the architecture of the same mysterious house built in the late 19th century. like the house It took me from a strange past to a bustling present and a not-too-distant future that hinted that the apocalypse was fast approaching. I was captivated by every frame of this brilliantly animated Netflix special.
Story 1: And the lies told are lies
first installment the house This Netflix production features the mysterious architect Mr. It begins with a poor family receiving as a gift a new house built by Van Schoonbeek (Barney Pilling). The family, consisting of sisters Mabel (Mia Goss) and Isobel (uncredited), and their parents Raymond (Matthew Goode) and Penny (Claudie Blakely), move into a new home, fully furnished and staffed. Drunkard Raymond and seamstress Penny fall in love with the home’s elegant, home-cooked meals and the home’s extravagant design, but Mabel feels bad about her new living situation.
Mabel, who primarily communicates with Mr. Thomas (Mark Heap), Mr. Van Schoonbeek’s employee and main contact, becomes increasingly suspicious as the creepy contractor lurks in the shadows, working through the night, constantly changing floor plans, and slowly transforming the house. . A maze that cannot be recognized or avoided. Despite Mr. Thomas’ reassurances, Mabel fears that the house will eventually swallow her and her family.
Story 2: Then what is lost is the truth that cannot be gained
Fast-forward to modern times, and the Netflix special’s namesake home is now surrounded by a sprawling cityscape occupied by anthropomorphic rats. At first I rolled my eyes at the obvious pun about modern life being a rat race, but in this context it works surprisingly well. This second installment, which centers on a nameless rat developer (voiced by Jarvis Cocker), shows how desperate he is to complete renovations and put his house back on the market in order to earn a good business loan.
The house begins in a state of disrepair, but only until the developer’s efforts to battle constant bug infestations and fix numerous structural and electrical problems through his own shoddy and half-baked contracts are brought to attention. A developer fires his entire team and works alone to ensure that an upcoming open house goes off without a hitch. As his debt deepens, he slowly begins to unravel.
While the developer is unsuccessful in selling the house, several interested buyers decide to move in against the developer’s will and invite their families to live in the residence.
Story 3: Listen again and find the sun
With stories from the past and present, the house Which brings the viewer into the third and final act.
We’re still looking at the same house that started this Netflix special, but it could end up being a completely different residence because of how much the world around it has changed and influenced its architecture. In the second story, we are introduced to Rosa (Susan Wokoma), a hapless landlady in a city now inhabited by anthropomorphic cats supposedly brought in to look after rats. He talks about restoring his childhood home, which is now an old apartment building.
In this timeline of the Netflix special, the house is surrounded by endless stretches of water, making us wonder when Kevin Costner will set sail to save the day. water world. One of Rosa’s tenants, Jen (Helena Bonham Carter), is supposedly a competent contractor, so she brings her spiritual partner, Cosmos (Paul Kaye), to the house to help with repairs. Instead, he tears up the floorboards to build a raft for everyone to sail to a new life before the entire city is flooded to the point where it is unfit for habitation.
Stream on Netflix
the house is one of the most enthralling animated specials I’ve seen in a long time. For a special animated entirely through stop-motion sequences, each character moves fluidly with an earnestness and curiosity that some live-action content may have difficulty replicating. To summarize, the house In one word, I would say ‘deliberate’. Each segment presents a moral conundrum rooted in the supernatural, effectively revealing the humanity of each character made out of cloth as they are consumed (metaphorically and figuratively) by the very house they inhabit.
You can stream the house It’s on Netflix, but you might want your kids to sit here.
