Set across different time periods and worlds, The House features three separate short stories that all revolve around one grand manor house and the many strange goings on that happen there.
The first "And Heard Within. A Lie is Spun" tells a wonderfully dark Shining-style horror where the house itself is an evil, cosmic entity that slowly imprisons and consumes its inhabitants. The fact that the characters are wool puppets does not make what happens any less terrifying; there are some truly nightmarish moments and I think it could easily have been a standalone feature.
The second story jumps to the modern day, in which an anthropomorphic rat is attempting to refurbish and sell the house to wealthy buyers. In his way are plumbing problems...and some large bugs. This one was more comical, but in an off kilter 'something weird is going to happen' way which keeps the suspense going.
The third story is the weakest in my opinion. Set in what I presume is a post-climate change future, the house is surrounded by floodwater while a landlord cat tries to reign in her unruly hippie tenants. I thought there was probably some sub textual commentary going on about society needing to abandon capitalism and embrace a utopic socialist ideal in the face of rising sea-levels, but it's very vague, albeit charmingly acted and animated.
I do wish the stories were better linked; While the house is the same in all three stories, they don't reference each other; In the first film the building is almost sentient, whereas in the other two it's just bricks and mortar. There's no common lore that links the house from film to film, which I think was a missed opportunity. That said, each film was brilliantly executed in its own right and it's great to see Netflix embracing animation that is not afraid to tell quirky, left-of-field stories.
The first "And Heard Within. A Lie is Spun" tells a wonderfully dark Shining-style horror where the house itself is an evil, cosmic entity that slowly imprisons and consumes its inhabitants. The fact that the characters are wool puppets does not make what happens any less terrifying; there are some truly nightmarish moments and I think it could easily have been a standalone feature.
The second story jumps to the modern day, in which an anthropomorphic rat is attempting to refurbish and sell the house to wealthy buyers. In his way are plumbing problems...and some large bugs. This one was more comical, but in an off kilter 'something weird is going to happen' way which keeps the suspense going.
The third story is the weakest in my opinion. Set in what I presume is a post-climate change future, the house is surrounded by floodwater while a landlord cat tries to reign in her unruly hippie tenants. I thought there was probably some sub textual commentary going on about society needing to abandon capitalism and embrace a utopic socialist ideal in the face of rising sea-levels, but it's very vague, albeit charmingly acted and animated.
I do wish the stories were better linked; While the house is the same in all three stories, they don't reference each other; In the first film the building is almost sentient, whereas in the other two it's just bricks and mortar. There's no common lore that links the house from film to film, which I think was a missed opportunity. That said, each film was brilliantly executed in its own right and it's great to see Netflix embracing animation that is not afraid to tell quirky, left-of-field stories.