Watch This Mike Flanagan Movie The Next Time You’re Home Alone
We don’t know exactly what it is, but there’s something instinctively appealing about spending a quiet night alone watching a scary movie.
Tickling the ancient part of our brains that’s constantly on the lookout for outside threats, scary movies can give us a much-needed boost of adrenaline that leaves our hearts racing, our skin crawling, and our butts unfailing perched on the edge of our seats.
Like the foreboding anticipation that comes with the steep drop of a roller coaster, watching a decent horror movie outfits us each with a pulse-pounding sense of excitement we can’t find anywhere else. Of course, such is especially the case when we happen to watch a movie alone by ourselves, allowing us to tap into our primal fears free from surrounding distractions.
While there’s no shortage of ideal horror movies to watch when you’re spending a quiet evening by yourself, a few of our favorites unsurprisingly feature lone characters confronting an unknown adversary beyond their wildest imaginations. In this sense, we instinctively reach for some of the numerous movies featuring characters on their own facing off against a mysterious intruder, as happens to be the underlying premise for 2016’s Hush.
Once Upon a Time … in an Isolated Cabin in the Middle of the Woods
Set in the middle of the remote woods, Hush focuses on Maddie (Kate Siegel), a deaf-mute author who escapes the hustle and bustle of New York City for a more secluded life in the forest. Moving into an isolated cabin with her pet cat, Maddie hopes the newfound solitude will be enough to help her finish her latest novel.
Upon her arrival to her new home, however, Maddie is soon menaced by a methodical masked killer (John Gallagher Jr.) perfectly aware of Maddie’s hearing disability. Playing a sadistic game of cat and mouse, the killer begins stalking Maddie from outside her home, looking for ways to break in and make her his next ill-fated victim.
If that description sounds simple or relatively straightforward, that’s because it is. Unlike most modern horror movies, Hush’s director, Mike Flanagan, knows that you don’t need to rely on an over-the-top story, an extensive cast of characters, or a large number of settings to craft an exceptional horror movie. Instead, all you need is a relatable situation with increasingly dire stakes, paving the way to a survival thriller that captures our attention from the very get-go.
A Home Invasion Story That’s Terrifyingly Realistic
In theory, it’s easy to dismiss Hush as a clever knockoff of Wait Until Dark or a traditional slasher film starring an enigmatic, seemingly unstoppable killer. But like Flanagan’s later work on Midnight Mass, Haunting of Hill House, or Gerald’s Game, there’s no shortage of surprises in store for viewers when it comes to Hush’s plot. Though it might initially seem like yet another indie slasher with its basis in horror and high-concept villain, Flanagan brilliantly subverts audiences’ expectations by having the killer shed his mask early in the movie’s second act, distancing Hush away from the same genre as Halloween and Friday the 13th and moving it into a more realistic category.
Whereas most slasher films typically feature thinly-drawn main characters who are about as likable as an extra in Carrie, Hush truly takes the time to have viewers bond with Maddie, affording us a chance to develop a deeper connection and understanding of our hapless hero as she endures the ensuing home invasion.
Through this, we’re more readily able to put ourselves in Maddie’s shoes, identifying with her dire circumstances and helping us rationalize her decisions. (Unlike most clueless final girls, Maddie actually strategically maps out each of her actions, engaging in a battle of wills and wits against her would-be killer, each of them attempting to exploit one another’s mistakes and gain a slight edge over their opponent.)
Because of all this, Hush manages to capture a rigid sense of realistic drama most other horror movies sorely lack. By prioritizing story and pacing first and foremost, Flanagan maps out an exciting horror-thriller with rousing stakes and mounting suspense. Rather than your typical bad-guy-chases-screaming-heroine around a suburban neighborhood or sleepaway camp, Hush uses its limited cast and even more limited settings to maximum effect, leading to an inventive horror film as unforgettable as it is wholly entertaining.
