MIDNIGHT MASS on Netflix is extraordinary (horror)

Terry

I will post a **Spoiler** in a few minutes.

A 7 part horror movie on Netflix titled MIDNIGHT MASS blew me away and I thought I might
recommend this limited series (only seven parts.
First of all, there is a ~~word~~ never ever mentioned by anybody in this horror drama.
That is for a good reason. A very good reason.
I won't mention it either or I'd ruin part of the build-up inside the plot.
Suffice to say, this horror story is a very fresh take on a well-trodden path
we've all been down many times (if we are fans.)

Let me tell you why I think Ex-JW's would or might especially enjoy this.
We went down a similar path to the characters in this story.
We were offered Eternal Life based on trials and travails quite horrifying (Armageddon and persecution). We were introduced to rituals very different from mainstream religion.
We believed in angels and New Light.
We were willing to shun and view as diseased any who turned against our Truth.

In other words - this Midnight Mass story takes ordinary people who live on an island with lots of problems and a central religious figure offers them a kind of Salvation based on miracles and most of them are willing to endure the crossover test to achieve eternal life.
They are completely and utterly deluded, of course, and we (Ex Dubs) will understand this in a way an ordinary horror audience will not because it is on a deeper level of experience shared.

WARNING!
The story (in seven parts) is a "slow burn" not interested in flash and bang but in characters' lives and backstories so you get to know and deeply care about their humanity before the descent into terrifying inevitability appears.
When the horror begins (and it does begin soon enough) you are pulled in deeply and glued to your seat.
This was so intense I had to take a space of one day between each chapter. I could NOT simply do the binge-watch orgy I ordinarily do when something grabs my interest.

***SPOILER ALERT***
Please don't ruin this for yourself by watching a preview trailer or reading a review.
The less you know - the more impact each successive revelation will bestow.

****SUPER SPOILER ALERT***
The word that is never ever used by any character at any time is the first word you would use if you had been asked what genre of horror MIDNIGHT MASS is.
The reason the word isn't used is that this story really ISN"T a _____movie at all.
The spoiler is this: this is the REAL meaning of the Bible in a twist so blood-curdling a religiously educated person (like an Ex-JW) will feel the gut-punch with double force.
When you realized you weren't dealing with THE TRUTH and the LIE was what you worshipped you were devastated. So too in this horror story. But the true horror (for a Catholic) must feel so blasphemous as to be traumatic.

**END of SPOILER**

Try MIDNIGHT MASS and even if it seems slow at first ...hang in there for the end of that first episode. You'll know if you want to watch the rest by the time it is finished and Episode 2 rolls around.
At the end of Episode 4 I was actually traumatized!! And I am a veteran Horror movie buff.

So, there you have it!
Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-XIRcjf3l4

____
The actor who plays the Priest is so wonderfully empathetic I loved the guy. He is utterly sincere and big-hearted. His motives are not sinister at all. He is pure as a True Believer.
The religious dialogue in movies is, IMHO, laughable - but in this instance it was wonderful!
There wasn't a phony moment of trumped-up dialogue when it came to God-talk
.
This is aimed at true believers.
Ex-True Believers will find it outstanding, I'm sure.

James Jack

The wife and I are watching it now.

James Jack

Once you get through the first episode, it’s must see tv. I’m emotionally involved.

Terry

Yes, slow opening and then.................BOOM!

Willie647

I’m watching too. When the little girl talks to the drunk about crippling her I was stunned. A lot was stolen from me too. I’m 65 now and just now realizing how much was stolen. “ you stole from me things I didn’t even have yet” was profound. Also “ you reached through time and stole from me. “ Wow!

Terry

I was floored by the ...sincerity of the emotional truth in the screenplay and the acting.
Moved to tears on more than one scene or other.

I appreciated the depth of the character study in this 7 part series.
The ENDING was off the charts, too.

Brock Talon

I just finished this series and left conflicted. Overall, I enjoyed it, but had nagging negatives about it too that I did not want to have. These things have just sat there, eating at my enjoyment of the experience and the more I think about them, the more they bother me.

On the positives: The series is beautifully written, acted and filmed. I loved the setting, the slow burns and depth and richness of the characters. I love watching movies and shows that surprise me... I don't want to see the obvious Hollywood cliches and signaling. This series had none of that. It entertained me and kept me wanting to see what happened next with each episode. This is not the case with some shows at all; I will leave them abandoned as I am want to do with a meal I am not enjoying - just not worth the time and calories to finish. This show: I gobbled up.

But as time the episode came on that told me what genre this movie was based on, I was a little disappointed. No, this is not a traditional show of that genre because it has a scientific twist to it, but still, in the end it was a show about "V-------s". Just accept it, that is the basis of the show. I had to.

But the thing is, the Vs in this show are depicted as the "bad" and the rest of the town (except the crazy religious nut lady who takes over) are the good. At least that is how the show portrays them. But why are the Vs bad? Are they not also just part of "nature," "evolution," "the universe?" Are they not part of "God," the "I am who I am" that the "good" character (who was a drug addicted, rock and roll wannabe who ended up pregnant and in an abusive relationship) quoted in the end, thus putting an exclamation point of what most non-believer/athiests adhere to? If there is no "god" then why are the Vs bad? Wouldn't the world be better off with everyone being a V? If not, why not? It's all survival of the fittest, no? Why is there a moral judgement being made against Vs? Who's to say that they don't deserve to survive and the rest of mankind be replaced?

These were the questions I had once everything ended and I watched the closing credits. They are things I had not really thought of in that way at all. It had me asking myself that even an obvious non-believer/atheist writer who created this world believes that mankind is better off without Vs, better off with "love" for each other (a real abstract thing when looked at from an evolutionary standpoint) and sacrificing themselves for the better of humanity while quoting from scripture "there is no love greater than one who would die for others."

The thing is, why do all the Christians have to either be A) Crazy, B) Controlling, C) Naive sheep to the slaughter, D) Weak or perhaps all the above? Are there no strong, decent, compassionate, intelligent, insightful, balanced religious people in the world?

Why are all the heroes of this series either Gay, or drunken manslaughterers, or ex-addicts, or Muslim? The Christians were pretty much just a bunch of weak dummies, with the exception of the one psycho, power-hungry clergy-woman.

In the end, this show was to me a walking contradiction, trying to have it both ways: depicting inherent weakness and futility in religion, yet referencing it repeatedly as the basis of the best in the human experience.

Terry

I saw the twist as the V's being the ACTUAL intent of Scripture!
Not just the delusion of a priest misidentifying a V as an angel.

The thrust of religion (Christian or otherwise) is a rigid dichotomy of:
JOIN US or ya gotta perish!
Living eternally - either way - is a reward that comes at a heavy price.

To be Christian is to take up his "cross" and die the martyr's death.
(Notable was the absence of cringe by the V's in the presence of the crucifix.)
A man's enemies will be members of his own household, etc., etc.

So - in that view - I had only praise for the commitment of the plot as the INVERSE
of religion as we know it.

scary21

At one point I jumped a foot and I haven't done that in forever.

Brock Talon

I saw the twist as the V's being the ACTUAL intent of Scripture!

Yeah, I recognized that premise as well. It was too obvious to miss. My logical mind rejected it out of hand as being plausible only in this movie's alternate world written by an author who likes to apply random, out of context scripture to a fantastic premise. Conflicts?

As you noted, the V held a cross and... well, nothing.

Catholics regularly use Holy water; not an advisable practice for a V.

Jesus and the rest regularly traveled by day.

Jews ate garlic regularly as part of their diet.

Jesus was crucified along side the other two in the normal way, not by sunlight or driving a stake through his heart.

Saul was converted on the road to Damascus by a blinding light from heaven, not glowing eyes in a cave.

Judas hung himself, not burned himself up in the sun, gobble up garlic, or drive a stake through his own heart.

Jesus and his apostles constantly talked bout being sons of light or the light of the word. Darkness was described by them as from the evil one. This would be the exact opposite of the world of a V.

and on and on...

... I could go on absolutely forever on this line of logic, but no, let's just run with the silly premise... what if Jesus was a V? Sure, I can go with this for fun, but I can't take it seriously. Any more than I went with those movies where Jesus had a wife and child or Jesus was gay and in love with John.

You don't have to be a Christian to reject these premises outright; you just have to know scripture as most of us on this board already do, willingly or not, believer or not.

MIDNIGHT MASS on Netflix is extraordinary (horror)

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