The House (2022)
Story overview
The House is an animated dark comedy that follows three different stories across various time periods, all connected to the same mysterious house. A poor family, an anxious developer, and a fed-up landlady each experience strange and unsettling events within this unusual dwelling. The film blends animation styles with elements of horror, fantasy, and drama to explore themes of home, ownership, and the supernatural.
Parent Guide
An animated dark comedy with horror elements suitable for mature teens due to psychological scares and adult themes.
Content breakdown
Contains psychological tension and unsettling situations rather than physical violence. Characters face supernatural threats and stressful circumstances.
Features atmospheric horror, eerie animation, and psychological scares. The overall tone is dark and unsettling with supernatural elements.
May contain occasional mild language consistent with the TV-MA rating, but not excessive or graphic.
No sexual content or nudity present in the film.
No substance use depicted in the film.
Deals with themes of anxiety, financial stress, and supernatural fear that create emotional tension throughout.
Parent tips
This animated film carries a TV-MA rating primarily for its dark themes and horror elements. While it's animated, it's not intended for young children due to its unsettling atmosphere and mature content. The film explores adult themes like financial stress, anxiety, and supernatural horror that may be confusing or frightening for younger viewers.
Parents should be aware that the horror elements are psychological and atmospheric rather than graphic, but the overall tone is quite dark. The animation style itself can be somewhat eerie and unsettling, which contributes to the film's disturbing quality. Consider your child's sensitivity to spooky themes before viewing.
Parent chat guide
After watching, ask open-ended questions about what they found interesting or confusing. Focus on discussing the film's themes of home and belonging rather than specific scary moments. Help them process any unsettling feelings by talking about how movies use atmosphere and animation to create emotions.
Parent follow-up questions
- What was your favorite part of the movie?
- Did any parts make you feel scared?
- What did you think about the house in the story?
- What colors did you see in the movie?
- How did the characters feel in their homes?
- What made the house special or different?
- How did the stories connect to each other?
- What would you do if you lived in that house?
- Which character did you relate to most?
- What lessons did the characters learn about homes?
- What themes about home and belonging did you notice?
- How did the animation style affect the mood of the film?
- Why do you think the house affected people differently?
- What made some parts of the movie unsettling?
- How did the different time periods change the story?
- How does the film use horror elements to explore deeper themes?
- What commentary does the film make about property and ownership?
- How effective were the different animation styles for each story?
- What psychological elements made the film disturbing?
- How does the film balance comedy with darker themes?
🎭 Story Kernel
The film's core theme is the corrosive, soul-crushing nature of homeownership and the capitalist promise of stability. It's not really about a haunted house; it's about how the pursuit of property becomes a parasitic relationship. The characters are driven by societal pressure and financial desperation, trading their identities, time, and sanity for the illusion of security. Each segment shows a different stage of this consumption: the naive investment, the obsessive maintenance, and the final, hollow inheritance. The house isn't a monster—it's a mirror of the economic systems that turn homes from shelters into life-draining assets.
🎬 Visual Aesthetics
The visual language is a masterclass in unsettling stop-motion. The textures are hyper-tactile yet grotesque—fuzzy felt becomes mold, polished wood grain seems to pulse. The camera often adopts low, oppressive angles, making the house's architecture feel domineering and inescapable. A muted, almost sickly color palette of browns, greys, and faded pastels dominates, reflecting the decay of aspiration. The animation style is deliberately slightly stilted, enhancing the uncanny valley effect and making every character movement feel burdened. Symbolism is woven into the set design itself: the expanding, labyrinthine interiors visually represent the characters' growing debt and anxiety.
🔍 Details & Easter Eggs
💡 Behind the Scenes
The film is a collaboration between three distinct directorial units (Nexus Studios, Blink Industries, and BAFTA-winning duo Paloma Baeza and Jessica Ashman), each crafting one segment with unique animation styles. The voice cast includes heavyweights like Matthew Goode and Mia Goth. A significant technical challenge was creating the house's 'growing' interiors; animators built massive, modular sets that could be physically expanded frame-by-frame to achieve the surreal, breathing quality of the architecture.
Where to watch
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- Netflix
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Trailer
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