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Comprising three uncanny tales of horror, The House, Netflix's new adult anthology, promises a fair share of morbidity and eerieness.
Divided into three chapters, the movie has one common line running through all of them - a house. Temporally sequenced in a linear manner, the three stories follow the same house as it changes residents and faces through time.
The compelling narrative and aesthetic visuals may sometimes overshadow the tenets of the plot, but it does come up time and again through the three chapters.
Overview of the three stories of 'The House'
This stop-motion is a collection of three stories, morbid and uncanny, with nightmarish endings to it. Only the last feature offers a glimmer of hope.
A nefarious bargain
The first one, set in Edwardian times, follows a family of three who enter a suspicious bargain to gain up on their status hierarchy. When an unknown architect invites them to take a house furnished by him, they immediately sign the deal.
Little did they know that they would end up paying the price for the mysterious house with their lives. Enslaved and entranced by the grandiose of the place, the parents end up turning into furnishings to suit the architect's whims. Only the two children manage to make an escape as the house is engulfed in flames.
Hard times
The second chapter fast forwards to the times of the recession where we see an anthropomorphized rat who is a developer, trying to sell a property. Little did he know what lay in store for him when a couple of buyers, under the pretense of being interested in the property, took the house hostage and eventually turned the developer into one of them.
Losing all senses of identity, he takes on the mannerisms of a rat, infesting the place he so lovingly developed.
Abandoning the comforts of denial
The final story is set in dystopian times where the world is engulfed in flood waters and pink mist. Amidst this, Rosa tries to renovate her drowning house in the hope of finding tenants.
In denial of reality, Rosa clings on to her beloved house until finally realizing that she does not need to let go of it to move on. The ending sees her turning her Victorian home into a boat and sailing into the sunset.
What are the core tenets of the movie?
The house is symbolic of corruption, greed, scams and thwarted dreams. It stands against time but the residents move in and out, fix it up, tear it down, or use it to sail off into the sunset.
Each tale, while animated, is dark, creepy and morbid, with an underlying message that the movie tries to communicate to the audience.The stop-motion is a lesson about materialism, greed, deception and attachment.
Though it's easy to lose sight of these themes running deep into the three stories, the viewer is reminded of them throughout the film.
Catch the stop-motion horror anthology now streaming on Netflix.
