Midnight Mass

These limited series shows have always delivered, and now we have another one that’s directed by none other than Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House 2018, The Haunting of Bly Manor 2020, Doctor Sleep 2019). Midnight Mass isn’t your usual horror flick with tons of gore, jump scares, and slasher scenes, it reminds me of “The Pretty Thing that Lives Inside the House”, because of the monologues and not the in-your-face kind of scares.

Concept

The concept was great. Father Paul Hill bringing the so-called angel back to Crockett Island, which he believe was a real angel of God. He really believed it with his whole being. He even went above and beyond to the point that he infuses the creature’s blood with the sacramental (communion) wine, for him, he was sharing the blessing of god with the people of his village. Towards the half part of the series, he started doing midnight masses as opposed to the usual morning schedule.

A few special mentions of characters that moved me.

• Casting was great, special mention to Father Paul Hill (played by Hamish Linklater), his enthusiasm when he conducts a mass was uplifting, makes you feel like you’re part of the congregation. His wordings were very articulate and it reels you in, makes you want to believe what he’s saying.
• Erin Greene (played by Kate Siegel) had the longest monologue in the whole series. I love the way she speaks, its very clear and her voice sounds warm and you’d want to just sit there and listen to whatever she wants to ramble about. Her expression of loss was very captivating and you’d feel for her.
• The low-key antagonist since the series began, Bev Keene (played by Samantha Sloyan) had a stellar performance. She was self-righteous and had her own belief system, and she owned that role. She held her angelic composure even when everything went to shit, claiming that everything is what God wanted. I think many people hated her character, I know I did, and that’s proof that she did her part well.

From the moment Father Paul Hill started leading the mass at Crockett Island, the changes was subtle, but if you’ve watched this more than once, you’d catch it. From the miracle of Leeza, the slow recovery of Annie and Ed Flynn, to the youthfulness of Mildred Gunning.

The songs were great, I’m not a Christian but the song selection speaks volume. Specially the last song the whole village sang.

The reveal

Towards around episode 5, its revealed to everyone that the main antagonist was the “angel”, we see what its capable of but no one in the entire series mentioned the word “Vampire”, it was very evident that it was such a monster, but I liked how they didn’t outright say the word, it reminds me so much of “Afflicted“. The creature design looks a little like that of The Last Voyage of the Demeter.

Effects

I loved the effects in Midnight Mass, not all brutal and gore. They didn’t resort to shock value but to good storytelling. When they showed what the “afflicted” people see, everything seemed alive, the fire looked like it was singing, the throbbing light on human’s necks, and how clear the sky was that they could see everything, all the stars above, as if no clouds were present and the surrounding was pitch black. The creature design was awesome, not too much but just enough, a bat-gargoyle-vampire-like being, I loved it.

The ending when they were singing “Nearer, My God, to Thee”, as soul-crushing as the scenes were, it was a satisfying ending and it was handled beautifully. All of them knew what was coming and they embraced it. Looking at the sunrise, knowing it’ll be their last, hands of loved ones held. Pure bliss. And the way the song just ended, and you’d here a short echo of their voices, that gave me goosebumps.

Conclusion

Midnight Mass had a slow start, but it picks up pretty quickly. Subtle hints of things aren’t what they seem will get you hooked. It’s a short limited series of only 7 episodes, with around an hour each. Beautifully told and the pacing was just right in my opinion. Give it a chance. ready your box of tissues because they made sure to cover all bases.