Summary
For all its horror, His House is a demonstrable case study of what occurs across certain factions in the western world.
Directed by Remi Weekes, we review the 2020 Netflix movie His House, which does not contain spoilers.
Netflix was not going to allow October to end without giving the horror community a few more titles to glaze over. After the average Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight Netflix have released His House.
His House (2020) Review and Plot Summary
Before we delve strongly into the horror plot of His House, it’s important to note that it’s heavily themed around modern immigration. The characters present in the film are traumatized and horrified by their past, relieved to finally find temporary asylum seeker status after weeks of waiting. The Netflix film represents the issues in our immigration processes at present; how it goes against everything we stand for in terms of humanitarian efforts. When the couple are finally told they have bail on their asylum seeker status, the husband laughs in a way that is filled with relief — it’s the kind of laugh that’s hard to gauge what it means; it’s a whole plethora of emotions.
But linking to the important theme, Netflix’s His House sees the couple moving into their accommodation provided by the authorities, and what follows is a sinister force that torments them; forcing them to relive their past and encourages the couple to act erratically. Everything feels metaphorical; while some political groups will argue that people should apply for immigration statuses before moving to a country, the reality is uniquely different. The sinister force in His House represents their mindset — how freedom does not necessarily take away the trauma of integrating into an entirely new culture.
Some scenes represent the British attitude in His House — there are a few scenes where the locals treat the couple with discontent because of their thick accent; cries of “go back to where you come from” hit hard as culturally symbolic dialogue. We’ve often heard these phrases in our communities — heck, even I’ve had it directed towards myself, and I was born here. For all its horror, His House is a demonstrable case study of what occurs across certain factions in the western world.
Is His House good?
His House also shows the horror in which it’s difficult to adjust to a new country. I remember when I worked in the USA for 6 months and despite understanding their pop culture and what I perceived from TV and film, the adjustment to dealing with a different way of life, attitude and people was a shock to the system. The Netflix film sends a message; that more must be done to help those who do immigrate.
So while His House is a horror and it has all the tropes and thrills you would expect, at the same time, the messages that run through it are stronger than the story itself.
