MovieChat Forums > Midnight Mass (2021) Discussion > 8/10 for me

8/10 for me

posted 3 years ago by [deleted]
9 replies | jump to latest

Once again Steven King should demand royalties from Mike Flanagan. Just as Hill House heavily borrowed elements from The Shining this series is a riff on Salem's Lot. Thrown in are a few other King-isms lifted from books such as The Mist and Storm of the Century.

Don't get me wrong. My wife and I really enjoyed this series.

Where it fell short was mostly in production values. There is a lot of sub-par CGI/green screening that distracted from the drama.

e.g. In some of the boat scenes the side lighting is clearly coming from studio lights. When Riley takes Erin out on the water for their last time together the background water at some angles is this undulating mass of random waves with no discernable direction or wind to drive it. It looks more like computer generated "noise" of some sort.

e.g. In her first appearance the aged Mildred is clearly a younger actress wearing "old person" makeup. I guessed right then that her getting younger was going to somehow figure into the story.

I agree too with those who commented on the tendency of characters to launch into monologues that went overboard with the verbosity and eloquence. The worst example of this for me is when Sheriff Hassan gives us an overly long and emotional back story to explain why he won't investigate (shut down?) the Christian church.

On the other hand, I did like Riley Flynn's poetic description of what happens when we die. Even if death means the complete and total end of us those final minutes will be heavenly enough. I like that thought.

Sidebar: The monologues are another King-ism... the flawed characters in his books often talk - or think - like this at critical points in the story, usually to show us how noble they are in the face of adversity.

Finally... is a sequel in the works? This story ends conclusively enough for a limited series, but leaves enough wiggle room to carry on the story.

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 3 years ago

Once again Steven King should demand royalties from Mike Flanagan. Just as Hill House heavily borrowed elements from The Shining this series is a riff on Salem's Lot. Thrown in are a few other King-isms lifted from books such as The Mist and Storm of the Century.

I still think people are exaggerating these connections. It's like when a friend of mine was saying Hill kinda ripped off AHS season 1 with souls being stuck to the building. These are just common tropes.

Hell, one of the things that I actually consider to be strong King-ism is the similarity between Nell and Danny, but no one points that one out lol.

There is a lot of sub-par CGI/green screening that distracted from the drama.

I actually love how stylized/picturesque this show was.

e.g. In her first appearance the aged Mildred is clearly a younger actress wearing "old person" makeup. I guessed right then that her getting younger was going to somehow figure into the story.

Smart. I was just like, man, they really fucked up the casting.

The worst example of this for me is when Sheriff Hassan gives us an overly long and emotional back story to explain why he won't investigate (shut down?) the Christian church.

I still consider this to be very problematic. I'm not sure what he, and that backstory add to any of the overarching themes of this show.

Finally... is a sequel in the works?

Nope.

[–] exatera (3966) 3 years ago

It wasn't just Mildred: the old monsignor, Riley's parents - were all younger actors in old makeup.

And yes, it was extremely obvious. It was also an immediate spoiler, as I figured out very quickly why the actors were much younger than their characters.

All the shows Flanagan has done so far for Netflix have been limited series, none of them are getting a season 2. The next one will be The Midnight Club based on a book by Christopher Pike. And the one after that was just announced, and will be based on Edgar Allan Poe.

[–] LoveCatsHateDogs (2002) 3 years ago

Yeah, when the Sheriff was like "Let me tell you how I became a police officer" I imagine it wasn't just me that was like "Really? again?"

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 3 years ago

I defend the excessive monologuing in this show.

But even now, I cannot defend that specific monologue. I feel like it has no place in the story, and it just helps to support my theory that Midnight Mass was stretched to fit 7 episodes, when it could have been a lot shorter.

[–] NoEasyBuckets (352) 3 years ago

I enjoyed it for the most part but you pretty much listed my issues with the series. I think they could have cut about 10 minutes of dialogue from each episode to make it flow smoother. I was zoning out during most of the monologues and there were multiple times where one character's monologue was immediately followed by another's. I didn't love the monologue about what happens when you die followed by the kumbaya ending either.

The old person makeup was definitely distracting as well as the "listen here sonny" old lady voice that the actress was putting on. I didn't necessarily guess that she would get younger but figured at the very least there would be flashbacks where we'd see her as a younger woman.

I also think they could have cast a different actor as Riley. It didn't feel like a big moment when he died because he had such a lack of presence in my opinion. I don't know if it was the actor or just how it was written/directed, but he just never really connected with me.

[–] Bluebook (52) 3 years ago

So they were just vampires ,,,,,,right ?

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Short answer... yes.

[–] SickSpazmoid (878) 3 years ago

More like 7 or 7.5 at best. It was going to be 8 until the last episode, where they dropped the ball hard. The last episode being the worst one is always a huge disappointment. It was outright stupid, I would say. Until then I was ready to forgive even the horrible CGI ocean and also the few scenes that required too much suspension of disbelief from both characters and viewers. The aging makeup was pretty obvious on most faces but it is always like that, so I can't complain about it.

Don't know Flanagan's background but seems to me that he loves theatre and this particularly shows itself in scenes with long dialogues and the way they are set and shot. In that sense the monologues were OK but they require a lot from the actors. Hamish Linklater really kills it here, Samantha Sloyan looks totally in the skin of her character and I also liked Zach Gilford's relaxed and natural performance. Sadly, Kate Siegel is mediocre but she is the director's SO and we have to endure her. We also have to endure the forced diversity, lamentations about the treatment of Muslims and such, but this appears to be the new standard. I doubt that it came from Flanagan, probably Netflix force-fed him with it.

[–] LanceDance (1397) 3 years ago

It was an 8/10 for me too. I didn't mind the monologues quite as much as other people did, or the singing. But it seems several people especially had a problem with the Sheriff's monologue, and I kinda did too.

We get it, don't judge a book by its cover, not all Muslims are bad, and diversity is good. I didn't think this show was that woke or anything, and I actually liked the Sheriff for the most part, but that whole racism subplot was unnecessary and added nothing to the story. I want to give the writers the benefit of the doubt that Netflix forced that quota on them in order to get the show greenlit, because it felt out of place.

I actually thought they were gonna do something deeper with the three Abrahamic religions and have them all come together in the end or something, and I liked the scene where they were discussing whether or not to let a bible or a quran into schools, but nope, they were just letting us know that not all Muslims are bad. and to be diverse and inclusive.