Netflix Original (2021) – Limited Series

Trailer available here

Firstly, I am not religious. Why do I say this? Midnight Mass is a show that focuses a lot on spiritual and religious beliefs and therefore my perspective on the plot and its focusses may be very different to somebody who follows particular scriptures. I wont be looking at how it compares to common interpretations of certain verses or books found throughout the bible because that would be outside of my comfort zones and result in haphazard content. Despite that there are plenty of elements that everybody can relate to regardless of their viewpoint and these are more than worth focussing on.

Each episode, created by Mike Flanagan, has an over-arching theme of a ‘book’ of the bible to incorporate it all into a larger flowing plot lasts just over an hour with cast members including Hamish Linklater, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegal and Zach Gilford; This all allows for enough depth and character development to allow for a more ‘immersive’ feel into the show than if it was at the traditional 45 minute long episodes.

Is this truly horror? Not really. Dark, gritty, an uncomfortable watch with suspense and one singular jump scare that leaves its mark in your brain for a few days? Yes. From what I had seen of the trailer and summary of each episode this does not coming to a surprise at all but it is frustrating how something that is ‘horrifying’ and ‘shocking’ comes under the category of ‘horror’. Starting watching this there was no expectation that it was going to be my own interpretation of horror but I will admit that by the end of the second episode my guard had been dropped for it actually even reaching the heights of creeping into my head let alone anything else.

The over-arching theme that stands out for me personally is about how the characters live on an island as a seemingly isolated community where, like a lot of places across the globe, people are increasingly fleeing from in the search of hopes and dreams on mainland or in big cities. As somebody that grew up in rural settings of a part of Northern England still desolate, under-funded and destroyed by the lack of an active present community (instead still focusing on the past of when they were mining towns; honoring that history but not forging new identities). Knowing of similar stories from other areas especially a lot of Scottish islands it is easy to see the way the people of Crockett Island focus on something that gives them a belief, a path to follow and something to unite over.

However, Crockett Island’s strength of being able to unite over a particular thing is also its downfall; Nobody wants to go against the way things have been, against what has been said, people just desperately want to fit in and believe that there are positives and ways to improve the Island. Doing so results in a level of manipulation and coercion from Bev Keane (Samantha Sloyan) because of her family history of being an important family on the island and in the church combined with her authoritative tone and general traditional beliefs. When she herself though sees something different she tries to use this to bring a spark of joy and hope to her life and the island but tries to vanguard it to being on her and a select few for how to allow the decision to develop.

On some level that is a theme every viewer of the show can resonate with; Whether it is a more popular group in an educational setting growing up, the parent-teacher association of the school, a home owners association making decisions for themselves over their tenants, co-workers fighting to speak louder in company meetings and so on. Just in the case of Midnight Mass it happens to be about what you could essentially view as a vampire with wings using the concept of taking communion as a representation of the blood of Christ quite literally and how to spread a potential of some sort of re-birth for the island and its people.

At the end of the show it becomes apparent that those that did end up with a level of courage to stand up for questioning the stagnation of the island and how to change it win out. That is not to say they abandoned the past but that they instead respected it, learned the lessons from it and forged new paths to walk forward and into the light. Those that get through to the end rise from the fire and its ashes like phoenixes accepting what was and what will be but flying into something new and uncertain with a confidence in their heart.

Worth watching for the questions of society, morality and ‘what is living?’ that it highlights with the well directed shots and all that good production stuff but not for an element of horror or a similar suspenseful eerie theme.