Things Heard and Seen (2021)

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Sometimes moving to a new location helps your mental and relational well-being. Other times, not so much. Watching Things heard and seen made put off the thought of moving into a new house for the meantime, lol.

In a house with a tragic history and a marriage fractured by lies, one dark secret peels away to reveal another. Catherine and George move from their upscale life in Manhattan to a tiny town in upstate New York after George gets an art history job at a small college.

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As time goes on and George becomes more ingrained with his peers, Catherine increasingly finds herself isolated and alone. Soon, she also begins to sense some darkness lurking in the walls of their old home. This is based on the novel All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage. And as per usual, I haven't read that novel, so I can't compare how the two line up.

Amanda Seyfried and James Norton star in this dark drama and thriller that also has some real horror elements to it. They play a strained couple really well with a palpable tension between them. The film opens with a pretty grim scene and then retraces its steps to get us there.

There's a quietness to the story, too, but that doesn't mean it's not moving and tense. The uncomfortableness grows through each scene. And while some of it is obvious based on the behaviors of George, there's still a growing sense of unease as we watch Catherine navigate her relationship as well as deal with strange occurrences inside their home.

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I like that some of the story deals with gaslighting, which only works to create more of a darkness to the story. There's also a fair amount of spiritualism mixed with art theory that comes into play. And at the beginning of the film, it takes up a little bit of the dialogue time to introduce.

Then through the course of the story, the specific topics of spiritualism and art theory are addressed again. I wasn't familiar with either the spiritualist Swedenborg or the artist George Innes. And some of their works play into the themes.

But you don't need to be knowledgeable about them to understand the film. They work to add another layer of intrigue. And the story does a pretty good job of explaining things so it doesn't get confusing.

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I read that the author of the novel had Seyfried in mind when she wrote the book. So this part is literally created for her. And I thought Seyfried plays the character of Catherine really well.

She's flawed and hurt in some ways that aren't totally addressed, but she's got strength to her despite how others try to make her feel. She's also pretty sympathetic because we see how she becomes more and more isolated despite her cries for help. And the fact that she's nice and pleasant helped to differentiate her even more from the antagonistic personas.

I enjoyed seeing her growth and strength when she finds her voice. I also really liked Norton in the role of George. He's not a likable character, and he accomplishes this really well.

He's slimy and smarmy, and we can tell almost immediately that he is not going to be somebody that we root for. As the story goes along, we get to see how much of a static character he really is. He doesn't get better or worse.

We just get to see more and more behind the curtain of his persona. The reveals in the story are subtle and not overly obvious. And when they come, they're pretty powerful to character motivations.

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I enjoyed the horror elements in this as well. While I think there was one or two jump scares, which were at least weren't things jumping out of the shadows, but more just sound swells and then a burst of action like something crashing down or like that. And unlike some of the reveals, some of the story progression is a little predictable, but it doesn't take away from the horror that unfolds.

Because the horror is atmospheric and it's even oppressive at times. And I think a lot of that comes from the dual sides of the story's horror. On one hand, you have the experiences that are going on at the house.

And then from the other side, there are the relationship aspects that lead to disturbing acts. This isn't one of those stories that's going to leave you all bright and cheery. The content becomes more and more heavy, and by the end, it is pretty daunting.

There are some special effects utilized here, but they are used very reservedly, which makes them effective in just adding to the overall creepy atmosphere. The pacing is deliberate, but not slow. And the story unfolds piece by piece, and it continues to add more layers of frustration, unease and sadness, along with the creepiness.

I wasn't totally satisfied by the ending, even though I think it's concluded nicely. And I read something on the Swedenborg Foundation website that I thought fit nicely with the tone of the movie. The belief is held that after we die, we're led to communities of people who love the same thing that we do, so that we'll never be alone.

And that last part is to provide some hope and comfort. There's also a sense of belonging that exists no matter who you are or where you're at. All in all, I think Things Heard and Seen deserves a four out of five stars.