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Everyone close to me knows that I am absolutely obsessed with Mike Flanagan’s Netflix limited series shows. You’ll likely recognize the first two shows Flanagan created for Netflix—The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. They were both stunning shows, discussing topics like addiction, mental health, and grief through the lens of horror. Midnight Mass, though, had an undertone neither of the other shows had—religion.
As soon as I finished the 7-episode limited series, I immediately restarted it to watch it again and see what I missed. Flanagan had hidden meaning everywhere. He wrote dialogue extremely carefully and directed the camera to focus on things the average person (or even director) wouldn’t care to think about. I forced everyone in my life to watch it with me, and they loved it just as much as I had.
The show follows a group of people in a small fishing town. Riley Flynn, the addict who killed a young girl in a drunk driving accident; Erin Greene, a young pregnant woman fleeing an abusive relationship; Father Paul Hill, a priest wanting to revive the small town and help (to a detriment); Dr. Sarah Gunning, a gay woman who struggles to feel loved by her community members; and Sheriff Hassan, the newcomer who is looked down upon for being the only Muslim in the small Christian town. I would hate to spoil the show (and I don’t want this blog to be endlessly long), so I won’t say more about other characters, but all the characters are so complex that they deserve their own paragraph devoted to their entire character arc.
As a person who is Christian but has struggled to feel accepted by many church members, watching Midnight Mass was incredibly impactful. I saw a little of myself and people I had come across in every character—myself in Riley and Erin’s endless questions about how God uses our suffering for good, the people who hadn’t accepted me in Bev Keane, and everyone who struggles to forgive (including myself) in Leeza Scarborough. Flanagan has created incredible works in the past with The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, but Midnight Mass is much different from either of his first two Netflix originals. I strongly encourage everyone, especially those who consider themselves to be religious or have struggled with mental health in the past, to take a weekend and binge watch it all. Its touch on religion, mental illness, and addiction is beautifully written and produced. I could go on and on discussing the symbolism and metaphors introduced in the show, but I don’t want to spoil it! All I can say is that I guarantee you won’t regret watching it.
Allison Boarman is a McConnell Scholar in the class of 2023. She is studying political science, philosophy, and economics at the University of Louisville.