The Fall of the House of Usher [2023]
“I called you tonight to give you the only thing you’ve ever wanted: My confession.”
In what is sure to be one of my least popular opinions of the year, Mike Flanagan has done it again. With his release of the adapted miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe; the mind behind Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Hush [among other things] has hit another home run… out of the shortest end of the field, off of a tee, and with a strong tail wind that just carries the ball into the first row of seats. I forgot to mention he also built the field specifically for this homerun derby of his and was the only participant, observer, or scorekeeper.
As his family is dismantled one horrible accident at a time, Roderick Usher sits down with his longtime nemesis to lay it all bare. Not all fortunes are earned, nor are all tragedies, the only sure thing is that debts will always be paid… in full and on time.
Now, what I mean by all this is that Flanagan simply doesn’t have any competition in this creative space. We maybe get close with 2022’s Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, but even that exists on a pretty different plain than Usher or anything else Flanagan is so often heralded for. And, before we get much further, I do want to be clear that, despite my score and overall feelings on Flanagan’s work in general, I think he is a fantastic director. There’s an undeniable magic in the things he creates and his ability to consistently tease out intimate and award-worthy performances from his stars is nearly unmatched. His vision comes through so strongly in these stories and that vision is always great to spend time with. That vision and style, in fact, is the only thing that got me through the quagmire of Usher or Bly. Flanagan’s flair and passion make even irritating, boring, and bland stories sing because he knows exactly the right light to put them under. However, just because something sings, doesn’t mean it’s going to be your favorite song.
To put it simply, The Fall of the House of Usher is too long. All told, this show has a runtime of 8-hours and 13-minutes [according to IMDB], and it only needed to be somewhere in the 2 or 3-hour range. It’s a show for people who like television, who like to be distracted or busy while they have something on, and who want to have clearly telegraphed events occur that they can revisit if they feel like they’ve missed something. If one were to put Usher on whilst cleaning or chatting with friends, all they’d have to do in order to catch every plot point is wait for a loud, cheap BANG to come from their TV, rewind a couple of minutes, watch until it happened again, giggle at the jump-scare, and then move on with their newfound understanding of the journey. A problem that I have with “shows” as a genre is that they tend to be incredibly “empty”. While not always true [things like Andor or Dark utilize their runtimes very well], this is something that The Fall of the House of Usher is more guilty of even than most. The first half of the first episode is very well paced and the show has moments of shining brilliance all throughout but, for the most part, it’s simply a show where nothing ever happens. Once you watch the second episode you’ve effectively seen the entire show, and it never grows or evolves from there.
Usher is simply a horror anthology masquerading as an arcing plot with something to say. Though Flanagan’s trademark soliloquies do eventually make an appearance, they are nowhere as interesting or profound as those in Midnight Mass or any of this other works, instead opting for slightly preachy rants. Even though I haven’t liked much of what Flanagan has put out, I do generally find it meaningful in at least an overarching way — there’s typically a takeaway that I can find some solace in or a concept that I’m happy I invested my energy into. Usher, however, is not like that… it’s just an episodic slasher film. Now, if you like slashers in general, you will love this show. And I don’t mean that as a frivolous comment or throwaway dig on your tastes; you really will love this show if slashers are something you generally find yourself enjoying. Though the visual effects are largely terrible and some of the violence is a little corny, the kills are fun and inventive, many of the sets and props are well envisioned and executed, and the performances of all involved are better than anything you’d typically find in the genre.
It’s not all bad news because, of all the things that Usher isn’t, “stupid” is on that list. Boring maybe, but not dumb. Most shows have a hard time dealing with technology in any interesting way, and that’s something that Usher handles extremely well without feeling the need to lampshade that they have to mention things like “metadata” to appease the viewers poised with an “um, actually” anytime the internet is mentioned. Something else the show handles exceptionally well is representation. Characters aren’t paraded around or spotlighted for being who they are… they just simply are. There’s no goofy signaling for the audience, no specific mentions of any preferences, alignments, features, or biologies, everything just is, and that’s an extremely rare feat even in modern filmmaking. Costumes are fantastic with every character being undeniably themselves whilst not standing out like a comic-book villain or becoming a trope. While I don’t remember the music a week out from my watch, I also don’t remember it being distracting, so that’s good. Unsurprisingly for a Flanagan piece, the commentary and creative elements of The Fall of the House of Usher are unrivaled in virtually any genre; he makes me think of a modern, gritty Tim Burton at times.
So, all in all, if you’ve loved Flanagan’s other works, you will almost certainly love this one too. It’s more of the same in a lot of ways, it’s extremely safe in most others, and it’s fun enough if you’re only paying half attention to it. As a film I think I would have written a glowing review of this piece but, as a show, there just simply isn’t enough content to pad out 8 entire episodes of the same thing happening over and over and over again. I really love Mike Flanagan’s vision and his ability to turn the quality of everything he touches up to 11, pulling moving and interesting performances out of everyone he works with, is simply incredible. That said, I think he needs a much, much, stronger editor and should be kept away from the writing desk. Had this show not garnered so much attention and been recommended to me personally by so many people, I wouldn’t have survived episode 4 and, after the absolute soul crushing disappointment that was the final episode of Midnight Mass [along with my “lukewarm at best” experiences with everything other than Hill House], I think I’ve finally given up the ghost on spending time with his creations moving forward… Though I do read he’s involved in the Dark Tower adaptation… and that’s my absolute favorite book series of all time.
Comalla come see
Flanagan’s still trapped me
“It’s amazing how far you can get on denial.”
