Long before he was at the helm of the Prime Video adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie, Mike Flanagan made waves for himself with his trilogy of Netflix TV miniseries. His ability to helm works that combine horror and genuine human exploration. Recently, The Fall of the House of Usher reimagined classic Edgar Allan Poe tales to terrifying success, with each episode adapting a different story.
Before that, however, one Flanagan project stuck with fans and viewers in ways a showrunner can only ever dream of. In a change of pace, this project stepped back from house-haunting and moved on to something bigger: faith. When faith is involved, the structure of the story changes.
Midnight Massseems, on the surface, like a show about vampires. And while it is, the heart of it is something much more human than that. Allegorical for emotions like grief and loss,Midnight Masspushes viewers to understand their own issues.
It keeps the monsters out of sight for as long as possible, and once they are visible it's difficult to ever imagine having not seen them for what they are in the first place — much like in real life. Set in Crockett Island, a tiny fishing community that has long since fallen into disrepair, the show follows Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) as he moves back to the island after being released from prison. Things have changed for the worse since he was there last, and it doesn't seem like the community has much time left due to its dwindling population and fishing prospects.
Riley, of course, is far from the only one struggling. Sheriff Hassan (Rahul Kohli) is the island's only Muslim resident, and the community's predominant Catholic faith puts him at odds with his neighbors. Bev Keane (Samantha Sloyan) is the town's religious zealot who is desperately clinging to her faith amidst the suffocating despair of the remaining citizens.
When Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater) arrives to replace the aging priest, it seems as if there is finally something good within reach. Once religion enters the equation, things shift. The scared townspeople immediately cling to him, and their blind faith starts to lead them down dark paths.
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