Movie Review: The Midnight Club (Series)
To those before. To those after. To us now and to those beyond. Seen or unseen. Here, but not here.
When you watch good movies from a director, you immediately begin to look forward to any production that has his name attached to it. At first, I wanted to skip The Midnight Club, but when I saw Flanagan, I immediately remembered how good The Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor was and I added it to my watch list.
Guinness World Record
Before the release of the movie, the news about its record holding feat made wave. It had officially broken the record for the most jump scares in one single episode.
Imagine being a horror movie lover and hearing news like that. I just had to. I haven’t had a decent scare since The Black Phone.
Premise
The movie follows the lives of eight terminal teenagers battling cancer and AIDS in a hospice. It shows how they tell ghost stories each night continuing a tradition that was left behind by their predecessors and also unravels the mystery of their hospice and the intentions of their ward.
The Teens
Anya, Ilonka, Sandra, Cheri, Natsuki, Kevin, Spencer, and Amesh.
The teens served as representation for different people of skin colour and sexual orientation. My favourite is Kevin hands down. He’s funny, lively, and has a weird sense of humour. I also like Spence. Sandra the believer got her healing, thank God.
Jump scares
I had so much expectations for the record-breaking jump scare but alas I was disappointed because I saw it coming. I wasn’t scared. The Midnight Club is many things, but scary isn’t one of them. It didn’t give the scare of Hill House, but had its own promise.
It had awesome stories, though. Dusty and The Witch particularly intrigued me.
Ilonka
Annoying is not enough to describe Ilonka, but again, she wants to live and a dying man will catch on straws. I felt bad for her when she said she was the one going home only for Sandra to come clean. I can’t imagine having my whole life planned and then getting an illness that disrupts the entire flow.
But as much as I felt bad for her, her behaviour was annoying. She almost gave that I-deserve-to-live-more-than-you-guys energy. I knew she and Kevin would become a thing. No matter how short-lived it is, I’m happy for them.
Season 2
There’s going to be a season 2. At the very last moment, we find out that Dr. Georgina has cancer and is also a member of the Paragon. What’s her game plan? Is she good or pretending to be?
Why do Kevin and Ilonka keep seeing the founders of the original building?
What is Cheri’s story? Why didn’t the team push for her story?
It was interesting, but not creepy enough. It leaves room for a lot of future stories.
Did I enjoy it? Sure.
Is it the regular scary stuff? Nope.
