Series Review: The Haunting of Bly Manor. Creator: Mike Flanagan.
Writers like Murakami and Fitzgerald understood
tragedy. The latter even celebrated it. No matter what the attitude of an
individual towards tragedy is, the fact is that tragedy strikes like lightning and
makes a man different from what he was before it. Tragedy, ennui and at times
sheer bad luck is capable of doing what explicitly made bad wishes fail to
accomplish.
‘The Haunting of Bly Manor (THOBM)’ created by Mike
Flanagan streaming on ‘Netflix’ is loosely based on the novel ‘The Turn of The
Screw’ by the Late Sir Henry James. When a couple decides to celebrate their
wedding day at ‘Bly Manor’, a haunted house, an elderly lady of the village (played by Carla Gugino) humors the couple and the guests with the story behind the beautiful ‘Bly’.
It is said that grief is the first step of acceptance,
and it is very necessary to grieve everything because everything left behind
deserves a funeral. The central theme of the series is grief. Grief is what
unites the characters. As they have individual grieves, they all share a common
grief. ‘Bly’ unites them and divides them at the same time.
While the series is supposed to be based on ‘The Turn
of The Screw’, it does not bear much resemblance to it, and the Director seems
to have taken a lot of liberties with the storyline. The series centers and
revolves more around emotions, whereas the book is a complete mystery-horror
story. Even so, the series is wonderful and much like its predecessor ‘The
Haunting of Hill House (THOHH)’ (read full review here: https://bff-anewdimension.blogspot.com/2021/03/series-review-haunting-of-hill-house.html) is more than just another horror story.
Horror aficionados as well as those who are fond of a
great story must definitely watch this series as it is the epitome of the
embodiment of human element, negligible jump scares, warm moments that almost
feel like a hug as well as a consolation that life will figure itself out.
Human nature, a difference in the attitude towards
tragedy according to age and the various stages of grief and bereavement are
immaculately and accurately portrayed in the series.
The one thing (among others) that the viewers are sure
to appreciate in the series is the aesthetics. ‘Bly’ is a mesmerizing yet
spooky estate. A special mention to of the lovely costume designer and the hair
stylist needs to be made. Danielle Clayton’s (Victoria Pedretti’s) dresses in
each episode are beautiful and wearable. The plot, albeit loosely based on and
not bearing much resemblance to the novel is tastefully handled and captures
the attention of the viewers.
The direction of the series is excellent and the
ending of each episode at a cliffhanger makes the series addictive. Much of the
cast of ‘THOHH’ is a part of this series and all of them have embodied their
roles perfectly. A special mention of T’nia Miller who plays the religious and
tranquil Hannah Grose needs to be made. She can embody diverse roles as her
Hannah Grose is radically different from Celeste Bisme-Lyons, a role she played
in the BBC series ‘Years and Years’ (read full review here: https://bff-anewdimension.blogspot.com/2020/07/series-review-years-and-years-directors.html).
Overall, ‘THOBM’ is a wonderful and delectable blend
of mystery, tragedy, emotions and memories. A mere nine episodes are more than
enough to give the viewers a new perspective on life and things that matter.
MY TAKE: 10/10.
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Very nicely mentioned about all the characters and central theme of the series .
ReplyDeleteWill definately watch it