Posted in: Horror, Movies, Searchlight | Tagged: david bruckner, film, horror, rebecca hall, the night house
David Bruckner Talks About Recurring Confusion in The Night House
Modern horror tends to end in one of two ways. We're either left yearning for more without the answers we desired, or conversely, we get everything so perfectly wrapped up, there's little room for questions.
After the newfound artsy appreciation for the smaller-scale horror we've seen in A24 films (Hereditary, Midsommar, etc.), there's been a slight shift, most recently apparent from The Night House. Directed by David Bruckner, The Night House aims to take audiences down a twisted rabbit-hole that feels like a psychological horror exploration – and Bruckner is already prepping people not to feel like they walk away, understanding the entire scope of the ambitious film.
Bruckner explains to Comic Book Resources, "I felt there was a space there for the audience and invite them into the maze with us, that was true to Beth's experience, to the experience of the lead character and what she was spiraling with… So we embraced the confusion openly. I think it was about aiming for a place where you could sort of be stuck between two forces and two reads on what was happening in between life and death, between a knowing sense and in a continuing question. There are certain things that I don't feel like we have the answer to. We could easily pack it with a punctuation mark and a firm explanation to proceedings down, but I didn't think it was in its spirit. Hopefully, at the end of the day, it's just a really scary movie that keeps you thinking. If you're troubled a little bit by it, then you're having a little bit the same experience I had."
Just based on the trailer alone, the idea of The Night House being rooted in chaos and confusion is all too obvious. So the perception that we'll be experiencing ambiguity up to the end of the film shows that we can expect some consistency with our confusion. The trailer for The Night House can be seen below and features an ensemble cast of Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Evan Jonigkeit, Stacy Martin, and Vondie Curtis-Hall.
The Night House will be released in theaters only beginning on August 20.