Written by Mike Flanagan And Leah Fong And Julie Bicknell And Elan Gale And Jamie Flanagan And Chinaka Hodge
Directed by Mike Flanagan And Michael Fimognari And Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. And Axelle Carolyn And Viet Nguyen And Morgan Beggs
Dr Stanton: "We look forward to helping you write your own ending."
After going down an original path with Midnight Mass, it was back to book adaptations for Mike Flanagan's fourth horror show for Netflix and this one was something a bit different. Imagine a slightly maturer version of Goosebumps and Are You Afraid Of The Dark? That's what you get with this show.
Focusing on a hospice for dying young adults named Brightcliffe, you've got a slew of younger characters all coping with life ending illnesses as they navigate the limited time they have left, form friendships and oh yes, The Midnight Club. That title had to come in somewhere.
The title of course referring to the fact that our eight young adults meet up during Midnight in the library to tell each other ghost stories that are somewhat thinly veiled thoughts and feelings on the person telling them to a point. Some of these stories are better handled than others but if you like witches, ghosts, devil pacts, serial killers, time travel and so on, there's plenty to enjoy in that regard.
The young adults themselves are a likable bunch. The recently admitted Ilonka (Iman Benson) had thyroid cancer and was actively seeking a previous Brightcliffe patient named Julia Jayne (Larson Thompson) who was cured through supernatural means. It's a bit of an obsession with Ilonka throughout the show, putting her at odds with Brightcliffe's Dr Georgina Stanton (Heather Langenkamp) as well was making her an easy mark for the manipulative Shasta (Samantha Sloyan).
With secret cults factoring into this show, there's also some ghostly encounters in Brightcliffe that Kevin (Igby Rigney) can see while the other patients have their own shit to deal with. Abrasive Irish amputee Anya (Ruth Codd) worked as a brilliant foil to Ilonka and had two of the most moving stories in the show before her untimely death.
As for the rest of the kids, Cheri (Adia) was a rich girl with a penchant for lying, Spencer (Chris Sumpter) was a gay man who had AIDS, Amesh (Sauriyan Sapkota) had feelings for Natsuki (Aya Furukawa) and Sandra (Annarah Cymone) ended up being misdiagnosed. For protagonists, they're younger than previous shows but they're likable enough that the show works with them.
In terms of the adults though, both Stanton and Shasta are the main ones, largely servicing the Five Paragon plot that ended on a cliffhanger. There was also Ilonka's well meaning foster father, Tim (Matt Biedel) while gay nurse Mark (Zach Gilford) was an ally to Spencer, though a bit underused as a character.
- Episode titles for this show were The Final Chapter, The Two Danas, The Wicked Heart, Gimme A Kiss, See You Later, Witch, Anya, Road To Nowhere, The Eternal Enemy and Midnight.
- Mike Flanagan alumni who also appeared in guest roles included Rahul Kohli as Vincent, Henry Thomas as Freedom Jack, Alex Essoe as Poppy Corn, Katie Parker as Aceso, Robert Lomgstreet as a janitor and Michael Trucco as Frederick.
- The geek in me was happy with the references to the likes of Doctor Who and The X-Files. William B. Davis from the latter show also appeared as Mirror Man.
- Originally this show (based on the Christopher Pike book of the same name) was intended to be a two season show until Netflix cut it short.
- Standout music: There's a good 90s soundtrack through the series.
- Chronology: This show was set in the mid 1990s, especially given Mark's love for Interview With The Vampire.
The Midnight Club admittedly would be the weakest of Flanagan's horror adaptations for Netflix but not because it's bad. It's just that the ones that preceded it were much stronger than this one, which does plenty to get into. Overall, it's worth the twn episode but you'll need to read Flanagan's Tumblr for closure.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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