The House 2022 is a new Stopmotion dark comedy film that was coming to Netflix on Jan 14, 2022. Should you watch it? Let’s find out.
The House (2022) Movie Review
Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer, and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house.
This is a visually awesome movie to experience it’s stop motion with felt and fur characters, but what is so amazing to watch is how the camera still achieves depth in so many of the scenes, providing a very immersive environment.
There are three stories that play out, all crafted by three different directors, but they still all use the same house as the base focus for each story.
I enjoyed the different tones each of the stories took on. The first is probably the darkest one as it involves a poor family and their desire for the better.
When the opportunity comes to have a new, larger home built for free, they jump at the chance despite there being some mild stipulations attached. This one is not only dark in tone but the music and presentation have a very eerie feeling.
And I loved how the story transitions also from a semi-happy and content family to one that desires more and then what that does to them.
The imagery is disturbing and the film really embraces the use of light and shadows to cast a sinister overtone to the whole presentation and I like what the message has to say about greed and contentedness, even though it’s pretty sad.
And what I really enjoyed though, is the infusion of dark comedy within the story.
There were several moments where I chuckled because either a visual or a line of dialogue was witty or very unexpected. Now I didn’t find this hilarious, but I don’t think it’s meant to be either.
The second story takes us into the modern age, but we now follow animal inhabitants of the house instead of humans, but the animals speak and act just like humans and actually, that’s how the third story is also presented.
The presentation continues to be mildly unsettling and I enjoyed how in the second story there is the circularness to what’s being told. The visuals were very upsetting and they just gave me the heebie jeebies.
But not because of it some horror theme or anything like that. It’s just something that I don’t find particularly pleasant and to then have a story surrounding this was just Yuck, but in a good way.
The third story is a character study, which I guess all of them are, but this one really focuses on relationships and perspectives.
Through each story I was blown away by the visuals. The care and dedication needed to complete a story is intense and the mastery is evident in the final results.
And just like with Claymation where you can see the fingerprints and the details of characters here you can see the fabric fluctuate because the character was repositioned for the movement.
But the visuals aren’t just impressive in the characters. The backgrounds and scenery are also crafted with such amazing care that this ends up transporting us into the world that we’re watching.
Even though this is a stop-motion movie and a lot of it contains talking animals, I don’t really think this is geared at all towards a younger audience. Not only are the topics and themes more mature but the pacing is more adult as well.
I wasn’t bored, but things don’t happen quickly. The story moves along at a patient but deliberate rate, but one that will also bore the Littles I think even if they are entranced by the visuals.
And this is a relatively short runtime of 97 minutes but I do think you might feel the time because of its more quiet presentation.
Now the voice cast is stellar and a couple I geeked out over probably more than I should have.
I mean, there’s Susan Wokoma Who’s been on a few shows that I have had just a ton of fun with including truth seekers and Ola Holmes and crazy head.
But there’s also Mark Heap who may not be known to you, but he plays Brian in one of my all time favorite shows, spaced.
But then there are also more probably well-known names like Mia Goth, Helena Bonham Carter, Miranda Richardson, and Matthew Goode.
Every voice, whether they have speaking roles, Are just there to create sounds and noises of characters that really does a good job of providing the ambience needed for such a unique viewing experience.
So overall, the house is a unique way to present three disconnected stories that are all tied together by a location.
The themes are quite adult but very relevant and even relatable. With impressive stop motion, the felt and fur animation is captivating and surprisingly dark in the way that lessons are taught.
And even though the pace is slower, the excellent voice cast helps to create an atmosphere that is engaging.
There’s no sex or nudity but there is profanity and some violence.
I am going to give The House (2022) 3.5/5.
Do you have any favorite stop motion films? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.
Guys thank you so much as always for reading the review of The House (2022). See you next time.
The House (2022) Movie Trailer
Check out the trailer of the new stop motion movie The House (2022) Netflix film.Â
