a film that will make your skin crawl and uncomfortably uncomfortable! Netflix and Nexxon Studios created the stop-motion animated dark comedy series The House. The 2022 movie tried to revive a trend that stop motion animations had been employed in horror dramas for a long time. Every eerie aspect of the movie has a significant, hidden purpose, preventing it from being a typical horror movie. Furthermore, this unsettling, spooky anthology is definitely not for the faint of heart.
The main character, The House, serves as the single link between the three storylines set in the different eras that make up the movie. It is a mysterious location with evil plans that determines what happens to its occupants!
Chapter One: Plot Summary And Heard Within, A Lie Is Spun
The movie’s first story begins in the late 1800s. A modest family of four resides in a run-down cottage in the middle of the woods with Raymond, his wife Penny, their nine-year-old daughter Mabel, and infant Isobel.
One day, the family’s filthy rich relatives pay the cottage an unwelcome visit and criticise them scornfully for their living arrangements. Like his father, Raymond is referred to as a worthless drunken gambler.
A intoxicated Raymond ventures into the bush to be by himself after the embarrassing incident. Raymond hates himself for being a pauper, and his family worries about him. He unexpectedly has an odd encounter with Mr. Van Schoonbeek, a cunning architect who introduces himself as Raymond’s father’s friend. Mr. Van Schoonbeek presents the family with a hilltop residence that he himself designed. The architect demands nothing more than creative fulfilment and does not accept payment in exchange. But, the family’s cottage must be given up as the single requirement.
Raymond accepts the offer eagerly and relocates his family to the new home. Thomas, who appears to be a representative of Mr. Van Schoonbeek, leads the family to the residence. The mansion is opulent and lavish with all manner of amenities. Raymond and Penny are awestruck by the house because they have never seen anything like it. On the other hand, Mabel grows increasingly wary with each step.
While Penny is thrilled with the new sewing machine and high-quality fabrics, Raymond is fixated on the polished furniture in the house. The two begin to neglect their children in the middle of their pleasures. Mabel begins to look after Isobel on her own because she is the only one in her right mind. Mabel is startled awake one night by Mr. Van Schoonbeek’s eerie chuckling. When she exits her room, she discovers that the stairs to the lower level has been severed. She is told by Thomas that the house is still undergoing minor renovations.
The House Chapter One: Ending Explained
Mabel passes through the pool room to down the stairs. She finds numerous complexities as she moves through the hallways. A few odd-looking craftsmen might be seen in various rooms throughout the home. By the time Mabel makes it downstairs, she discovers that Mr. Van Schoonbeek’s crew have destroyed their former home. Thomas offers the parents some odd clothing to try on at night, including a flowy outfit that looks like a curtain and a tufted upholstery suit for Raymond and Penny. Mabel admits that she despises their new home after being shocked by their ridiculous clothes. She is shocked when she discovers their old cottage’s replica interiors in the mansion’s basement and moves Isobel in with her.
When Thomas requests that Raymond burn their old chairs, Raymond joyfully complies as if under some sort of spell, and things begin to take a more worrisome turn. Thomas is crying in a room when Mabel notices him while searching for food for Isobel. She learns that Thomas is really an actor who has been given a screenplay to mislead the family and is not an employee. When Mabel rushes to tell her parents, she is horrified to realise that Penny has changed into a curtain and Raymond has become a chair! The fireplace suddenly erupts in fierce flames that start to scorch the carpet. Penny, who is now a curtain, exhorts Mabel to evacuate the area as soon as possible and save Isobel. She pulls her draperies out of the window that Mabel and Isobel use to leave the house. When Mabel turns around, she sees that the hilltop beacon light has tragically turned to smoke.
Clearly, Mr. Van Schoonbeek’s ghost has taken possession of the mansion. In various scenes, the character of Thomas appears nervous, as if he’s trying to silence some whispers in his thoughts. Only Mabel observes Raymond and Penny’s unusual behaviour as they are consumed by their avarice. Similarly, the devoted workers who built the house appear to be completely lost as a result of the evil architect’s influence. The movie contains a few symbolic aspects, such as the tale of Princess Esme, who was the only person awake in the entire kingdom, which Mabel recounts from her book. This scene perfectly expresses Mabel’s feelings when everyone else stops making sense.
Notwithstanding the ambiguity of Mr. Van Schoonbeek’s motivations, those whose inhibitions were not initially pure were the only ones who were impacted by his witchcraft. Making everyone else envious of their luxury made Raymond and Penny ecstatic. Thomas came across as a performer who had sold out his morals in order to succeed financially. Mabel and Isobel were the only ones who were unaffected by greed and excess, thus they were able to leave the house safely.
Read also: The House Chapter Two: A Definition of the Ending
The House, directed by Emma de Swaef and Marc James Roels, chapter one: And heard within, a falsehood is spun. Netflix offers a streaming version.