The Haunting of Hill House

TV Show Name: The Haunting of Hill House
Year of Release: 2018
Created by: Mike Flanagan

Director: Mike Flanagan

Stars: Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Reaser, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Siegel, Victoria Pedretti, Lulu Wilson, McKenna Grace, Paxton Singleton, Julian Hiliard, Violet McGraw, Anthony Ruivivar, Annabeth Gish, Robert Longstreet, Samantha Sloyan

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
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Synopsis:

As Netflix continues their continuous output of self generated material, a good show comes in the way of Mike Flanagan's "The Haunting of Hill House". Flanagan, who directed last year's "Gerald's Game" also for Netflix, is at the helm of this show, both as the creator, and also director of all episodes of the show. "The Haunting of Hill House" is an adaptation of Shirley Jackson's novel of the same name, first published in 1959, and previously adapted to the big screen by Robert Wise in 1963 and Jan de Bont in 1999. Unlike the previous versions, this adaptation takes the story in a somewhat different direction. The show focuses on a specific family, comprised of father Hugh, mother Liv and their 5 children, named Steven, Shirley, Theo, Luke and Nell. The story oscillates between the early 90s, when the children are still growing up, and the present time, when they're all adults. In the past, the family buys an old mansion, in the hopes of renovating it, selling it, and then moving on to another project. However, once the family moves in, supernatural events and occurrences start manifesting themselves, first subtly, then more visibly. In the present, there's tension between the siblings, particularly when it comes to Steven, a published author, who wrote a book based on the experiences of the family with the paranormal events that they encountered in the house. Between disbelief, animosity, and guilt, the siblings and their estranged father, are forced to come to terms with each other when Nell, the youngest daughter, commits suicide, something that ties and pulls everyone back to the house. 
Mike Flanagan is a very intelligent writer/director, having built a career, thus far, in making films that may be labeled as "horror" and "fantastic", but that in reality, are finely layered, and go beyond the tropes usually associated with the genre. "The Haunting of Hill House" is a fine example of his narrative skills: the series allows the characters within the nuclear family to be flushed out, first as children, then as grown ups, showcasing the scars that characters carry with them from trouble youths to adulthood. The director explores the different relationships between the characters, before unleashing the supernatural, which usually unsettles the proceedings, most of the times functioning as a catalyst to either bind the relationships between the characters, or clear up conflicts that have been haunting them (which for instance, he used in one of his previous films, "Oculus"). "The Haunting of Hill House" is in some ways, like a mix between Alan Ball's "Six Feet Under" and something written and devised by Stephen King - it's sufficiently macabre to hold one's attention, but it also has a pulsating heart and family dynamics/conflict, to render the characters more relatable and realistic. It's a show that is impeccably shot, courtesy of cinematographer Michael Fimognari, with an equally consistent cast, with the always solid Carla Gugino and the reliable Timothy Hutton leading the group. Worth watching.