In The Fall of the House of Usher, when the heirs to the Usher dynasty die one after the other, the family patriarch, Roderick Usher, recounts the story of his and his sister’s life. The series will premiere on Netflix on October 12.
Story
Siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher, the CEO and COO of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, are facing criminal charges, as they have been advertising an addictive drug as a non-addictive painkiller for years, resulting in millions of deaths around the world.
Assistant US Attorney C. Auguste Dupin is determined to make them pay for their crimes. Suddenly, all of Roderick’s six children die one by one in the span of two weeks. After their deaths, Roderick calls Dupin to meet him.
Roderick is ready to confess his crimes. He will let Dupin record everything, but he will start his story from the very beginning. Apart from how Roderick and Madeline built their powerful empire, Dupin will also get to hear about the deaths of Roderick’s children.
What happened to his children? Their deaths seem to be connected, but is it the work of a human being or a supernatural entity? As Roderick’s story progresses, all the mysteries get solved and the family’s darkest secrets are revealed.
Performances
Bruce Greenwood and Mary McDonnell are brilliant as Roderick and Madeline. They are ruthless, powerful, and unafraid of the consequences of their actions. Willa Fitzgerald, who plays a younger Madeline, is just as impressive.
Carla Gugino, as Verna, will definitely stand out. She carries herself with a confidence that makes her character look invincible. She makes the audience pay attention to every single word that she utters.
The performances by the rest of the cast are also praiseworthy. Each of Roderick’s children has an episode dedicated to them, and the actors, especially T’Nia Miller and Kate Siegel, make it worthwhile.
Positives
In the very beginning, it is given away that Roderick’s children die, and then it is shown what happened to them, but the show is still very engaging owing to the great storytelling. All the secrets are revealed at just the right moment to keep the audience hooked.
There are some gruesome deaths in the show, which makes it the perfect Halloween offering. There are some spine-chilling scenes, but every death makes the audience curious about the next one.
There are jump scares as well, and they are definitely not the run-of-the-mill jump scares. They disrupt conversations and indicate what is to come next. Additionally, once the audience gets used to them, the show addresses that they have become predictable and tweaks them a bit.
In the show, the cruelty of humans is as frightening as the deaths that have a supernatural hand in them. In fact, humans and their cruel actions are scarier, as they seem more real.
The dialogue certainly makes the scenes more intense. Poe’s poetry is the cherry on the cake, especially when Greenwood recites it. Gugino’s last recitation of “Spirits of the Dead” is also quite impactful; it makes the ending significant.
The show borrows a lot from Poe’s writing, but it makes all the stories its own. They are adapted in such a way that they fit together perfectly. The Fall of the House of Usher will not disappoint the writer’s fans.
Negatives
In the show, the characters are either good or bad. The binary of good and evil leaves no space for gray characters. The addition of gray characters would have made things more interesting.
Furthermore, the characters make their choices and pay the price. It is like poetic justice. In almost all cases, the audience does not sympathize with the characters, and their deaths do nothing but shock them momentarily.
Verdict
The Fall of the House of Usher is a well-made drama that brings to the screen Poe’s stories. There is gore, family drama, mysteries, and some haunting. It should definitely be on your Halloween watchlist.
The Fall of the House of Usher
Director: Mike Flanagan and Michael Fimognari
Date Created: 2023-10-08 22:57
4.5
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