When Beth’s (Rebecca Hall) husband of fourteen years commits suicide and leaves her a cryptic note she fears that she never really knew him. Will she find solace in searching through his personal belongings or just more pain? 

Opening with Beth returning home from Owen’s (Evan Jongikeit) funeral we learn that she has no family nearby. In fact the only people she can lean on for support are her colleague and friend Claire (Sarah Goldberg) and a kindly neighbour Mel (Vondie Curtis-Hall). Distraught with grief she has found herself drinking a little too much, listening to their wedding song on the stereo and waking in parts of the house that she did not go to sleep in. Her grief leads her to dreams that pose more questions that lead her to search Owen’s belongings that lead to more questions. 

As Beth struggles with the pain she is facing she begins to believe that Owen is haunting her and as she searches his phone and his books she starts to fear that he had secrets she was not aware of. Her search leads her to a passion project of Owen’s. Opposite their lake house that he built, across the water he had started on a mirror image house, but to what purpose? 

The Night House is an expertly constructed horror movie. On the surface it is a supernatural haunted house film but that is purely a surface level analysis. As with all good horror films it is about human fears and emotions that we can all relate to. Beth is suffering from grief and depression. She is wrestling with why her husband would do this without her having any inkling that something was wrong. If she did not know this about him what else did she not know? What deep dark secrets might he have? And finally, the other thing deeply troubling her is where do we go when we die? Does everything simply end and what does that mean? 

Information is drip fed to us, a believable human story unfolds under the veneer of a frightening supernatural tale and it is done so with superb precision. The acting throughout from Rebecca Hall is a masterclass. She makes the supernatural believable and the real pain and grief of becoming a widow in such a shocking manner unbearable. 

I thought The Night House was exceptional and would wholeheartedly recommend it.