Midnight Mass
What an incredible show. It’s honestly just a few points behind being a masterpiece. Mike Flanagan has creating something truly special with Midnight Mass. It is a show that deconstructs faith and asks you the big questions, like “what’s our purpose?” “What happens when we die?” “Who is God?” , etc. Someone who is religious myself, I really appreciated this and the care that went into it. Flanagan grew up catholic, and later became an atheist, and this show truly does feel like it represents his journey, or something similar to his. The show does an excellent job showing the two sides of the coin, for those who are religious (mainly Christian), and those who are not. I found it to be quite beautiful and special at times, even if it did not align with my own personal beliefs.
On top of the religious discussion, this show also serves as a truly devastating and frightening horror show! There is some truly unsettling things in this show, and Flanagan does an excellent job slowly burning and building to this. The show is certainly a slow burn, but it always keeps the viewer engaged, and curious. You get little bits and clues as to what’s at large, but it really takes its time to fully reveal itself. I thought it was done excellently! By the time the show is in full force and has reveled itself mainly, it still has little pieces yet to reveal! It is always giving. I personally found the horror aspects to work so well, because they’re mingled with religion which is supposed to be something peaceful and loving. Horror and religion just go together so well here, I don’t make the rules!
Like I said some of the horror is truly unnerving. There’s a few sequences and shots that I just won’t forget and anytime someone mentions this show, I will think of said scenes. With this being a mini series, you get plenty of time to develop the characters within the story, so it makes those horror sequences even better because you feel you personally know these characters. By the time the show came to an end, I was quite moved by it. It can be really emotional at times and it may be sappy, but honestly it works for me. Those monologues really do it!
My biggest issue lies within the shows main character Riley. He is kinda a characterization of the deconstruction of faith itself. Though this really can work, it doesn’t here because the performance given by Zach Gilford just doesn’t hit right. I’m not saying it’s his fault, it could have been a choice by Flanagan, but it just doesn’t work . He’s very one note almost the entire show, and very boring to be frank. Other than that, it’s just little issues. Midnight Mass is incredible!