By ABBY GROFF
Staff Writer
Netflix, this month, has just released a new stop motion original titled The House. It features three separate storylines taking place in different eras with different characters; however, they all find themselves caught up with the mystery behind this strange building. Directors Niki Lindroth von Bahr and Paloma Baeza did an amazing job with this story visually, but it may be one too complicated for the average viewer. I went into this with no knowledge of what I was going to watch and expected a heartwarming Wes Anderston-style tale but finished feeling like I had gained nothing from it. It wasn’t until after doing a deep dive into the story and analyzing it did I think the movie was better. Movies, though, are meant to be enjoyed while watching and not afterward, so I do have some mixed feelings about its execution.
As mentioned before, The House consists of three different stories with a similar yet simultaneously contrasting theme. The first story of this anthology takes place in the 1800s. A young girl, Mabel, and her baby sister, Isobel, are our protagonists. Their father who feels as if he hasn’t lived up to his own extended family’s expectations drunkenly goes into the woods to make a deal with Mr. Van Schoonbeek, a man that promises to build the family a new house so long as they give them something in return. Their part of the deal is unknown until the very end when the mother and father eventually turn into furniture? It’s definitely weird, but I felt spooked throughout nonetheless.
The second part takes place during the present day. The catch? There are no humans in sight. All the characters are rats. I don’t know why, but they are. This also goes unexplained for the whole movie. The house has been renovated by a contractor looking to arrange a house party in order to find some interested families. Keep in mind, these characters are still rats. Ultimately, nobody is interested, except for a strange elderly rat couple who is “extremely interested in the house.” They say this multiple times. Some more odd events take place, and the contractor eventually lands himself in the hospital. He is later welcomed home by the couple and the rest of their family, who have resorted to becoming wild and feral, chewing through all the furniture they can. The contractor ends up the same way, and the last scene reveals him tunneling through his rotisserie oven. It left me feeling pretty unnerved and reminded me of Metamorphosis by Kafka. Apparently, others who had watched this movie could agree.
Finally, the third act begins, and I think The House slightly redeems itself. Now the characters are all cats within a story taking place in the possibly near future. The land has flooded leaving everyone struggling for a place to settle down. Rosa the landlady has grown impatient with her two remaining tenants, Elias and Jen, who often fail to pay their monthly rent. What I liked most about this third part is that its tone was much more hopeful, whereas the first two were creepy stories that seemed like they were trying way too hard. Rosa loves this house more than anything and wants to earn the funds to repair it in order to turn it into something beautiful again. Elias and Jen, however, are looking at life more realistically, searching for ways to leave the house and escape the flood. A cat named Cosmos arrives and inspires them to move on, but not Rosa. Of course, she becomes frustrated, but has that eventual character arc and leaves along with the others. Behind Rosa’s back Cosmos has turned the house into a boat, helping her to move out of her comfort zone but still having the home she had put so much effort into.
The House was good, but I think it had a lot that could have been improved in order to make it a more entertaining experience. Its third part would have been great as a stand-alone film. I really wanted to see more of it. For fans of thrilling stop motion films, the first two acts would definitely be more fitting. I’d say if you’re a huge fan of Coraline or Corpse Bride, The House does a pretty good job at incorporating some similar elements. I’m hoping to see some more projects like this from Netflix in the future.