Midnight Mass is a seven part miniseries distributed by Netflix and created by Mike Flanagan. Mike Flanagan also created Doctor Sleep, Haunting of Hill House and Hush, among others.
Midnight Mass follows a community of people living in an isolated island town. A young, charismatic priest arrives. Shortly after, the community starts to experience miraculous events and omens. The community soon begins to unravel, while the truth is slowly revealed.
Midnight mass is an ensemble cast. So there’s not really a single main character.
Riley Flynn – Played by Zach Gilford.
Erin Greene – Kate Siegel
Father Paul – Hamish Linklater
Bev Keane – Samantha Sloyan
I enjoyed the show. The cinematography, writing and acting were all superb. I felt the themes of religion and free will were pretty apparent and interesting, at first. The plot was unique enough that it held my attention and made me ask for more. The set design and pacing really added a sense of despair and anxiety to the whole situation. Constantly asking, when is this all gonna come to a bloody and over the top end. The answer. Fucking never. I don’t normally mind slow pacing in shows and movies. But there has to be an end to it all. Something so mind blowing I don’t mind the fact that I just sat through 6 hours of slightly pretentious religious rhetoric. I think Mike Flanagan told the story he wanted to tell. And that’s cool with me. However I felt that the pacing was detrimental to the overall feel. And really took me out of it, so to speak. Midnight Mass is definitely worth watching for the acting and writing. But don’t expect a palatable ending. I give it a 3.5 out of 5 Bongs. Now to the specifics. The next section contains spoilers. So beware.
Pros
- Looked great, a lot like the feel of the killing.
- Writing was top notch, if not a little preachy and pretentious.
- Acting was superb. great character development.
- Symbolism and mythology.
Cons
- Pacing. way too long without the payoff.
- Plot holes and ending.