Netflix has kicked off spooky season with “Midnight Mass,” a seven-part dramatic supernatural series. Created and directed by popular showrunner Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House.) A master of dialogue, does Flanagan add enough visual style and action set pieces to compliment his terrific writing style, or does this passion project lore the viewer to a sleepy slumber with long winded descriptive narrative.
Father Paul Hill arrives at Crockett Island after the town’s long serving priest Father Pruitt, falls ill on a spiritual pilgrimage. Accompanying the island’s recent run of bad economic luck is several supernatural events that have the already peculiar residents looking for spiritual guidance. Crockett’s very own black fish, Riley Flynn, swims back into town after serving a prison term for accidental manslaughter. Flynn and his old flame Erin Greene are two of just a few residents that see the events and the arrival of the new priest as a possible sinister scenario. As the town is blinded by miracle after miracle, the dark source behind this revival is revealed and the small group of resistance residents attempt to shine light on the evil that is lurking in the dark.
Most of great horror media is set in small intimate locations with rich personal subtext. Stephen King has built an empire on such premises and “Midnight Mass” is nearly a reimagining of King’s “Storm Of The Century.” To his credit, Flanagan manages to outshine King with his detailed dialogue. Most of this series is delivered through two person conversations and Flanagan produces rich and deeply complicated characters. While the writing is exquisite, “Midnight Mass” suffers in the visual format of television. Too often, the wonderful written word is ruined with small dull set piece payoffs.
Each performer puts in next to perfect shifts throughout the production with lead Hamish Linklater stealing the show with an Emmy worthy performance. Though horror fans have seen similar tropes in supporting roles, everyone from a young cripple to the town drunk are presented with rich backgrounds and add to the empathy of plight that the islanders are experiencing. Flanagan offers a fantastic visual piece, switching shot selections to near perfection. Scans from above mixed with close ups of the island nicely guide the viewer through the run-down island community. “Midnight Mass” if a very well done, but long-winded presentation. Much like Mr. King’s adapted works, this series would have played much better as a full novel than a small screen production. When translating any great written work with depth to visual media, the director must award the audience for that format with proper visual aesthetics. Forty plus minutes of dialogue per episode is often washed ashore like some of the animals in Crockett, by not providing the audience with a satisfying visual conclusion. This is perfectly personified in the abrupt and underwhelming finale. “Midnight Mass” is a perfectly written series that could have been as immortal as it’s antagonist but suffers far too often from a severe lack of engaging action. Much like the wine at communion, it comes in a shiny chalice but taste sour when you swallow it.
Scream Score-7.8/10