You can increasingly rely on Netflix for regular doses of horror, the latest example of which, Things Heard & Seen, has dropped on the service today and is drawing in lots of viewers.
The story sees artist Catherine relocate with her husband George and daughter Franny from Manhattan to the rural Hudson Valley after George takes a job as a college professor. Soon after the cracks begin to appear in their marriage, the sinister history and secrets of their new home start to make themselves known.
While most of the film’s early focus is on the family melodrama, this soon weaves into a ghost story whose intensity crescendos as Catherine and George’s marital discord intensifies due to Tom’s general douchebaggery and controlling nature that might be the source of Catherine’s apparent eating disorder. Many of the events don’t conform to typical spectral tales, so it can often be refreshingly difficult to get a read on the intent of the occurrences. It also acknowledges that the most malevolent presences of horror movies are typically human rather than anything supernatural.
People have been posting their reactions to the pic on Twitter ever since it premiered, sharing their thoughts on its insidious nature, and it seems that overall, the internet is divided on Things Heard & Seen, as you can see below.
things heard & seen was good but i need somebody to explain it to me what exactly george was doing at the end of the movie
— nina. (@xninaynsx) April 29, 2021
Things Heard & Seen was an interesting watch.
— Iperugirl ( Firegirl’s Sister) (@Adriannah_A) April 29, 2021
Netflix's "Things Heard & Seen" is smarter and classier than your average genre exercise.
https://t.co/YdZdx56NG5 pic.twitter.com/T2nfFtAgvd— Film Yap (@TheFilmYap) April 29, 2021
So, Things Heard and Seen is OK. Moody, yes. Atmospheric, yes. Haunting, yes. Engaging, yes. But I have some issues…
[SPOILER ALERT]— Lance Witten (@LanceTheWitten) April 29, 2021
I've watched THINGS HEARD & SEEN twice because I couldn't shake its final sequence. It's not a "good" film, but it is a fascinating one in how it grows gradually unmoored from narrative concerns, becoming something evocative and weird.
My Review: https://t.co/R9vxNQbStD
— eric (@MrEAnders) April 29, 2021
*spoiler warning*
just watched Things Heard & Seen, here is my review. like…, watch it if you’re bored but tbh it’s not that great pic.twitter.com/5ACqf84XcY— sky (@skyskydain) April 29, 2021
Things heard and seen. what a load of crop. give back 2 hours of my time
— whatever triggered me (@whichthefuck) April 29, 2021
Things heard and seen on Netflix. I’m enjoying so far 🧐
— Malaika 'Dutchpot Genna' Malz (@MalaikaMalz) April 29, 2021
Things heard & seen has to be the best movie on Netflix rn.
— Cori Bullock (@cori_n_bullock) April 29, 2021
Just started watching things heard & seen on Netflix and it’s awful, I can’t finish it 😂
— Josh (@jowiox) April 29, 2021
Things Seen and Heard, such a waste of my time.
— Nirvana (@joanizu) April 29, 2021
You have to skip "Things Heard and Seen". I spent my 2 hours straight watching a shitty ending #Netflix
— Red (@Fariderator) April 29, 2021
Out this week is THINGS HEARD AND SEEN, which is a baffling and exploitative misfire that becomes less narratively aware by the minute.
Tries to play its own riff on THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, fails miserably and hopelessly to empower its themes. https://t.co/V2sopjlvqy
— Matt Donato (@DoNatoBomb) April 29, 2021
https://twitter.com/AshleighWignall/status/1387822237198299138
https://twitter.com/galacticlegendt/status/1387836027960799235
Movie #32 of 2021: THINGS HEARD & SEEN. White male entitlement is the spookiest thing of all. A good old-fashioned haunted house story with a modern touch. Really liked everything except the last act.
— Britny Eubank 🐝 (@britnygottalent) April 29, 2021
THINGS HEARD AND SEEN needs to come with a *huge* trigger warning for those with eating disorders.
It also has absolutely no bearing on the story what-so-ever. If that's something that's going to cause you emotional distress, I'd skip this one entirely. https://t.co/jOqfNqLBx4
— Amelia Emberwing 🔪💋 (@ThatWitchMia) April 29, 2021
@Volta1228 watching Things Heard & Seen, so far an interesting movie
— JeffB55171685 (@JeffB55171685) April 29, 2021
https://twitter.com/PrimroseE8/status/1387846219687464962
https://twitter.com/rwx76_/status/1387861331618013186
There’s often something compelling about a film with a lot on its mind that has no idea what to do with it all. THINGS HEARD & SEEN is the kind of film that hands you a bunch of raw material and says, “Make of this what you will.” For better and for worse. https://t.co/R9vxNQbStD
— eric (@MrEAnders) April 29, 2021
Things Heard and Seen on Netflix is really good! I’m all freaked out the way a suspenseful and scary movie should make you feel. @AmandaSeyfried is amazing as usual.
— Michelle (@SoSofieFatale) April 29, 2021
Amanda Seyfried is becoming an increasingly reliable horror presence, giving a number of engaging performances over the years in multiple genre flicks of varying tone. Her beautiful fragility is reminiscent of Nicole Kidman around 20 years ago, and is the most engaging aspect of even mediocre films. Her performance as Catherine anchors the events, at turns resolute in her determination to remain independent and yet vulnerable to the forces circling her.
While Things Heard & Seen is far from the most relentless of horror movies currently available on streaming services, when it gets to the creepy stuff, it really finds itself, inflaming the screen with an oppressive darkness that drains it of vitality, and it’s easy enough to see why it got to a lot of Netflix users.