The House Is the Ideal Quizzical Stop Motion Film For the Fans of Absurdity

Filmmakers Emma de Swaef, Marc James Roels, Niki Lindroth von Bahr, and Paloma Baeza, bring to view The House, the three tales of the stop-motion surreal anthology that will surely flabbergast the fans of the genre. If you are an incisive cinephile, characters and storylines from the film will bring to your memory the Rumpelstiltskin tale, Felonious Gru, and David Lynch’s ‘mystery man’. And to make this concept more compelling, the plot will have you cross over into the twilight zone and call into question whether it’s the house that is the odd one out or the individuals living in it. Specifically, the surreal element perplexes the viewer’s perception and gets one’s feelings in a quandary. As a matter of fact, The House can get quite unsettling at times both in music and performances and its volatile plot will have you hooked.

What’s striking with The House is that it employs a gamut of interesting and diverse musical choices ranging from ethnic, to contemporary, and classical (both visually and audibly). Similarly, the performances are quite impressive- especially in the first half of the film- providing the finishing touch of the unusual music and instrumentation. Unequivocally, these sounds are patently familiar to your ear as melodies you have heard before which are showcased in an absolutely adroit manner. And the anthropomorphic creatures make this conspicuous feature more appealing and out of the common (especially in the second part of the film). At that point, music mashups are combined in ingenious means and add to the obscure plot. Consequently, if you are an eclectic melophile, there are going to be a lot of aha moments.

Not only The House is diverse but it also glorifies nature with its meticulously chosen set preferences. Specifically, the production design is immeasurably detailed and the décor will leave fans of modern interior design in awe. Of course, I wouldn’t omit to mention the deft manipulation of lighting as it enriches the aesthetics and peculiarity of the production.

The House draws a longbow and challenges logic in a cleverly peculiar modus operandi and creates a utopian illusion through an eccentric storyline in order to enthral the viewer. And that makes The House a must-see. On the contrary, if you are not a fan of surrealism, don’t worry, the plot leaves plenty of room for different interpretations, from intellectually complex to just iring the setting and getting ideas for interior design. Although stop-motion surrealism has not hitherto been popular on the database of Netflix, this is a positive leap towards alternative film perceptions. 

Animation, Comedy | 2022 | Series | Netflix | Matthew Goode, Helena Bonham Carter, Miranda Richardson