The Fall Of The House Of Usher (2023) Cre: Mike Flanagan
- Ridley Coote
- May 20
- 2 min read
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I love a Mike Flanagan limited series, and this, his modern adaptation of several of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, chiefly the one from which it takes its name, was the only one I hadn't managed to watch, to this point. Because of the quality of his other limited series, my expectations for this were relatively high.
Unsurprisingly, this series was very dark, both thematically and in terms of its explicit content. This too can be used as a descriptor of the visuals, although that's not to say that they were too dark. I actually enjoyed the cinematography quite a bit, generally speaking. Flanagan always inserts some very pretty little shots into his television episodes, and this series had its fair share.
Because of the nature of the story, it was slightly predictable. In some ways, it felt like an episodic 'Final Destination' series, but far more gothic. I loved how Flanagan linked the events of each episode to one or more of Poe's stories, some more clearly than others, but always effectively. When the pieces of the puzzle came together to form the larger picture, it was all quite neatly done, for the most part.
Bruce Greenwood's leading performance is a poised, but varied one, which was very much welcome in a series of chaos and frequently changing faces. His character, and indeed his performance, marked the show's anchor point, with everything and everyone else recolving around him. I really liked some of the facial expressions and arrogant deliveries of dialogue that he produced here and there.
There were a few standouts from the vast and talented ensemble cast, with my immediate favourites being Carla Gugino Mary McDonnell, Henry Thomas, and Mark Hamill. These four had the most consistent performances of anyone other than Greenwood, particularly Hamill, who just about nailed every scene he was in and them some.
The likes of Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, Samantha Sloyan, and T'Nia Miller - all returning cast members from other Flanagan projects - were all highly enjoyable at various moments throughout their time on the show. Of these four, my personal favourite performance came from Sloyan, who was quite fascinating, at points.
The trio of Carl Lumbly, Ruth Codd, and Kyliegh Curran didn't necessarily get a whole lot of screentime, but provided some really enjoyable scenes here and there, throughout the series. I was particularly fond of Codd's acting - I found her very funny at times. She definitely had a natural flair for the little moments of comedy in the show.
The likes of Zach Gilford, Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, and Michael Trucco all existed in a bit of a vacuum from the rest of the series, but all provided performances worth noting. I thought that Fitzgerald and Parker were the two to stand out most clearly compared to the others. Their scenes together were particularly good.
Overall, I thought this was a pretty solid little series, albeit not perfect. I definitely still preferred 'The Haunting Of Hill House' and 'Midnight Mass', but this was another steong limited series from the reliable and talented hands of Mike Flanagan. The man's next project looks to be another entry into 'The Exorcist' franchise, but I'm keen on watching whatever limited series he offers up after that.
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