This review contains potentially minor spoilers…
The Haunting of Bly Manor had a lot to live up to as one of Netflix’s hot October tickets. It’s predecessor, 2018’s similarly titled ‘The Haunting of Hill House’, was Mike Flanagan’s masterclass in horror television. Its structure enabled it to combine the best elements of horror cinema with a serialised format and a uniquely theatrical feel to great effect. And, best of all, it was scary to boot! For that reason, Bly Manor feels both familiar and inferior. It’s somewhat disappointing – not because it’s bad, but because it follows Hill House.
Bly Manor tells the story of Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti), a young American in 1980s England, hired to take care of two orphaned children, Flora (Amelie Bea Smith) and Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsowrth) by their distant uncle, Henry (Henry Thomas). The catch – the children live in a grand old mansion – Bly Manor – that’s suitably creepy and has had its fair share of tragedies.
The story, as you’d expect for an adaption of Henry James’ novel, is both engrossing and enigmatic. As soon as Dani arrives, it’s quite clear something is off. Resident housekeeper Hannah Grose (skilfully portrayed by T’Nia Miller) and her distracted presence upon meeting Dani are the first indication of this. Curious moments like this, and more blatant ghostly goings-on, keep you guessing throughout.
Unfortunately, the narrative structure for the nine-episode series makes it difficult to follow. Hill House astutely opted for character profile episodes in its first half. These effectively conveyed the equally lasting yet uniquely individual impacts the house had on each family member. The parallel jumps through time complimented these profiles perfectly, giving great insight into what made those characters.
Bly Manor, on the other hand, initially chooses to keep everyone’s backstories a mystery. The things that trouble them in the present are also kept similarly shadowy. Instead, they’re shown through memory jumps in episodes four through seven. Not only are these memory jumps out of order, they’re not plain and simple flashbacks either. The characters are aware they are having them and some of them aren’t entirely reliable. This makes them difficult to follow and breaks the pace set by the first three episodes. They are also central to the paranormal rules of the series which often seem inconsistent.
And then there is episode eight – which is a simple flashback. Some will love it. I didn’t. It’s presented in black-and-white (because OLDEN DAYS) and is overly long and incredibly repetitive. Not only that, but the series’ uneven narrating dominates the episode; Carla Gugino’s laughably patchy accent (think upper-class southerner cross Yorkshireman) is just distracting.
Speaking of accents, they’re not the best. Re-casting actors in an anthology series is always going to have these problems. Especially when you’re moving the setting across the pond. The UK has an exceptionally wide variety of accents, dialects, and slang for such a small country. Stateside viewers might not notice the inconsistencies, but a Brit undoubtedly will.
Likewise, the setting is supposedly somewhere in the southern English countryside – except it doesn’t really feel like it. The cars, the clothes, the sets – they also feel contradictory, not only to England but to a specific time. Some characters look like they’re in the 80s, sure. Others, though, could be in the 1880s. Some even the 1990s or present day. Even Bly Manor itself looks the same in the 17th century as it does in the 20th – maybe that’s the reason for the black-and-white filter in episode eight. It’s a shame really, especially given the technical marvel of Hill House’s incredible one-take sixth episode.
Where Bly Manor shines and what keeps you watching, though, is the characters. In fact, the harmony between the four live-in hands of Bly and the two children they watch over is the best thing in the series.
Owen, Bly’s cook (Rahul Kohli) and Hannah were easily my two favourites. The chemistry between them is great – their story is a real rollercoaster and greatly compliments the main plot. For a series full of romances, theirs is the most genuine and engaging.
Jamie (Amelia Eve), the gardener, is brash yet incredibly likeable – she’s a great foil to the studious Dani. The interplay between the two is charming, even if it does feel second fiddle to Owen and Hannah. I fear, however, that Victoria Pedretti is becoming typecast. Once again, she plays a seemingly innocent and bright-eyed young woman who’s widowed and has a psychological disturbance. That’s not to say she isn’t good in this role – she is – it just feels like we’ve seen this sort of character from her before and it’s time for something different.
Some viewers – especially in comparison to Hill House – may be let down with the scares. Make no mistake, Bly Manor is unquestionably a gothic ghost story, full of creepy imagery and raw emotion. And while there are several frightening moments, the jump scares and out-and-out terror of Hill House aren’t quite replicated. Where it does succeed, though, is with the constant sense of dread and misery that permeates each scene. You might not be jumping behind the sofa, but you will feel the creeping horror of what’s gone on at that “great good place”.
While failing to match the triumph of the series it follows, Bly Manor is still highly watchable. Some of its twists are predictable and the scares aren’t quite what they could be, but the characters are what keep you coming back. The narrative structure does leave something to be desired – and episode eight will certainly test a lot of viewers’ patience – but the story itself is a fittingly strong, modern adaption of James’ all-time classic. Even if a little unsteady on its feet, Bly Manor keeps Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting series in the top spot of quality horror TV.
Overall rating: 7/10
–
Featured image credit: Netflix
