 Oh, nearer to God, O Thee. Ooh, that's a hot mug, guys. Hey guys, this is my review for Midnight Mass, and I actually can show you something that I've had for a little while. They printed this off at the office. I worked on a show with the same crew who worked on this. Kind of had a few here and there stories about what happened. I saw some of the set pieces, but I tried my best to keep this from being spoiled. And I'm happy I did. Mike Flanagan once again creates another anthology seven hour long movie. It's an original idea, which I'm very happy about. And I say it's a seven hour long movie because it essentially it is. I have been very excited to watch and talk about this show with you guys because eventually the one that's coming out next, the next of Mike Flanagan project, which I got to work on, we'll eventually get to talk about that one. But let's talk about this series. Mike Flanagan once again creates something that you would think is Stephen King, but it still has the great character building, slow horror building, and very thought provoking kind of writing style that Flanagan is known for, even to the point now where it's very, very obvious of how many people break out into spontaneous monologue, but you still forgive it because of how well it's written for the most part. This series follows a island community of Crockett Island and a priest who comes to take over this pasture after the previous priests seemingly disappeared in the Holy Land, but the priest seems to have something in store for the community. And while that's going on, we get to be introduced to the community and the misgivings, the backstories and the turmoil and pain and hardship that they have gone through in their own way. Everyone in this series is fantastically portrayed. The actor who plays the priest, very, very good. The actor who plays Riley, very, very good. Katie Segal, it's always good to see her in a Flanagan project and she absolutely kills it in this one as well. The performances from everyone are very, very solid and I can kind of say this, but one of the reasons why Flanagan's always able to get such good performances, aside from being a very, very good director, he directs every single episode of this series. He does a lot of rehearsal with his actors before he plays out the scenes. There is a lot of prep in terms of him having communication with them and playing out the scene before it actually happens. I got to see him do a blocking for the new project that we're working on and it was great. It was so cool to see a director so enthusiastic, but at the same time being able to incorporate everyone into what is going on, not just the actors. It helps make everyone a part of the project more so. Very engaging blocking sessions. Probably one of the most engaging blocking I've ever seen. Every character in this show is pretty well written from the people that you like to the people you don't to the people who you're still trying to figure out. And I made a reference to Stephen King earlier, which is not surprising. I wouldn't be surprised if Flanagan's taking a ton of little notes and references from different Stephen King projects, not just books, but also shows. The fact that it takes place on an island makes me think of Storm of the Century. I have mentioned this series quite a few times in my reviews. I really should review this series eventually. But also in Flanagan fashion, it is a very slow burn. I'm not kidding when I say it's a seven hour long movie because while there isn't exactly a lot that's happening story-wise in terms of how the story is being paced, it's the characters that are building. We're not only just getting introduced to these characters, but we're really getting to delve into their lives and it makes their impacts on the story all the more when something happens to them. You feel that much more connected to it because we are given that much time with them and it also helps that everyone breaks into a spontaneous monologue. My God, if I could talk that good for that long without a single correction, I would be significantly faster at editing these videos. But how does this compare to Flanagan's previous Netflix projects like Haunting of Hill House or Haunting of Bly Manor? I would kind of say maybe in an overall buildup, I would say maybe Haunting of Hill House is a little bit scarier overall. However, Midnight Mass definitely has a pretty woo climax. Bly Manor was more of a love story that just so happened to be kind of in a ghost story story. So I wouldn't say it compares in this sense. I would actually say I would rather watch Midnight Mass than Bly Manor again. But that's just because of how well the dialogues are written in this show. While it does drag on in certain aspects, it does take a little bit more of your time than it should. You still are ingrained with these characters because while they are speaking in means that are a little Hollywood eyes, the dialogue is still grounded enough that again, you can relate to these characters and you can really get invested in this story. If I were to have any complaints with it, I would maybe think that the ending is a little bit too happy. I don't even know if that's really correct in terms of... I don't even know if that's truly correct in terms of how it's ended, especially for those of you who have seen it. It's hard to say without spoiling it and I really don't wanna spoil it for you guys. Maybe it just ends on a little bit more of a forgiving note than I think it should. Some of the plot elements kind of end on a kind of ambiguous Stephen King kind of vibe. The overall story ends in a pretty definitive ending. Like I said, just a little bit more forgiving that it should be. That's pretty much as much as I can say without spoiling it. There's also a reveal that happens about halfway through. Part of me kind of went back and forth on thinking that it was too early or it was actually properly timed and I'm still kind of going back and forth on that now. It's part of that kind of niggled me just a little bit and there are maybe one or two characters that don't get as much development despite the fact that we get so much development with so many other characters that kind of justifies what they do in certain parts of the story. And despite these nitpicks, I was fairly hooked. It was quite difficult to try and not watch the show when my wife was at work. I wanted to watch it so bad that I also wanted to watch it with her to the fact that we actually watched the last four episodes in one night and we didn't finish it until like two in the morning. So if you want something that'll hook you, it definitely does that. You just got to give it time to really invest itself, to really dig its claws into you. But once they are in, you are very much in. Each episode ends with you wanting to continue to watch it more, which a very good Flanagan trait if not kind of makes you burn through it faster than you should. I wanted to take my time with watching this so I actually watched it over three days, which I felt was adequate. Maybe could have spaced it out a little more, but I didn't want to burn through it like I burned through haunting of Hill House. I watched haunting of Hill House in one day. That was a lot. So in the end, Flanagan has once again created a series that you will definitely be interested in. In terms of its rewatchability, I would almost say there's not much at all, but it still has a unique, if kind of almost a little bit basic story with well-drafted characters, a decent pacing if a bit slow, and an ending that will satisfy some and maybe leave a few others a little bit hanging that's kind of the realm you go into with series horror storytelling like this. In the end, I'm gonna give Midnight Mass a six out of seven. It's a very solid, well-constructed series from Mike Flanagan. While the rewatchability might not be as strong as one would hope, it still has a very gripping and very intriguing narrative that you definitely gotta check out. I was thoroughly happy. I didn't get any of the shit spoiled. It was very hard. There were some people who wanted to talk about it and I was like, I do not want to know anything about this. I want to go in this blind. This wasn't even made by the production, but one of the actors saw it. I really hope that they got the guy's permission to do so because there would be legal things with that, I imagine. I think they might have incorporated into it. You almost see this poster as much as anything else before they did the official poster releases. In the end, guys, that's all for me. I hope you enjoyed this review. If you did, leave a like and if you're interested in more, subscribe. Otherwise, see you guys next time.