Netflix Original (2022)

Trailer available here

This three act production, done by a collective of directors and studio staff, is a beautifully produced, yet eerie, stop-motion reflection of social perspectives and struggles over three different eras.

It had sat on my watch later list for a while but something finally compelled me to click on it. There is something about stop-motion and claymation that I absolutely adore and appreciate, though Wallace and Gromit plots are meh and don’t get me started on the horror that is Chicken Run, for their artistry and the amount of time that it takes to be produced. Heck, there are accounts on Instagram that do little productions of animals cooking or going on little outings, and they are incredible too. But there was something about the theme of The House, done with wooly little characters and setting, that made it a little more unique sounding.

Whilst each act, or era, in this hour and a half long production has slightly different themes they all come back to the same thing; Wanting to be seen, achieve some set standard by the outside world and have purpose.

The first, oldest era, shows a family living within their means and it certainly not being easy but the judgement from family and those that are meant to be their nearest and dearest push them into the hands of an architect wanting to use them for his own experiments and purposes to see how to push boundaries. In doing so whilst it gives them what they want they also lose sight of what is actually important; those directly around them, the little moments of joy like sitting by the fireplace together, treasuring the simple meals that were lovingly crafted and shared together.

The second, a tale of a modern London home-owner/developer, provided me with the most amusement because it shows the slap-dash approach of trying to cover problems and cracks with quick solutions, living outside of means to make a quick buck and then not taking responsibility for the situation when it gets bigger and bigger. It is something we see from a lot of people in the housing era, especially in bigger cities and places going through gentrification, but the choice of seeing bugs head into a wall and just putting a bit of filler into the hole was the perfect “TRUTH” moment. As the act develops and they try to turn their handiwork into profit it all comes back to bite them for not following due diligence and not truly respecting the property or the environment around them. What happens to them with their personality and perspective of the world becomes more and more desperate until they too get exposed as the housing vermin that they actually are (can you tell, I don’t like landlords?).

And then there is the third act, one that most of us can relate to on some level either in the present or in the past, where the main character is desperately clinging onto a hope and dream that they cannot see the beauty in what they already have. They have been consumed about making improvements but in doing so all backwards that it results in them missing out on seeing the friendships and support that is actually on offer. We are taught so often, especially now, that we should work on ourselves, develop ourselves and do all these things like be a girl boss that accepting help or reaching out to people for support is scary and feels like a failure. It isn’t until we do this that we are able to succeed but sometimes that also means moving on and abandoning some things; “Sometimes things fall apart, so greater things can fall together” is a pretty good reflection of this act and the ending is probably one of the happiest ones despite it bringing internal personal sorrow as you are watching the rest.

As well as all of this the music, the lighting choices, the tiny little details going into the characters are absolutely incredible and the way that the British studio and team managed to put it all together and juxtaposition each act shows this as a highlight of its field. The plot, the voice-acting and more about this is just a true joy and well worth sitting down for an hour and a half to watch one evening.