Midnight Mass

This was a great show. I wish there was a bit more tension, but I understand that the slow burn was kind of the point and without the slow pacing the townspeople's actions wouldn't have been believable. Definitely captured the cult-y vibe of this isolated church community but somehow it didn't come off too preachy and anti-religion because that would have felt lazy.

Felt like it got a bit sloppy towards the end, almost like they wanted a frantic ending but didn't set things up to naturally get there and as a result the climax seemed forced. The priest really went through all that elaborate planning just to realize that
Despite the complaints about the finale, still 7-8/10.

I really enjoyed this. Almost every episode had a monologue where the acting was top notch. Mike Flanagan is doing a great job with all these horror shows he does for Netflix.

Animosity said:

I really enjoyed this. Almost every episode had a monologue where the acting was top notch. Mike Flanagan is doing a great job with all these horror shows he does for Netflix.

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It's not really horror. Mike Flanagan takes horror settings and concepts and turns it into family drama. Which is not a bad thing because Flanagan's a decent writer and director.

Looking forward to his next Netflix series due for release 2022 called The Midnight Club:

A group of seven close terminally ill young adults resides in the Rotterdam Home hospice run by an enigmatic doctor. They meet at midnight every night to tell each other scary stories. One night they make a pact that the first one to succumb to their disease is responsible for communicating with the others beyond the grave. After one of them dies, bizarre occurrences begin

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I thought the show was pretty good although a little dissatisfied with the ending.


Beyond that though I still give it 7.5/10. It's an interesting take on a vampire story.

I think it was just the usual motivation for a vampire thats been buried for thousands of years, he was hungry.

Finished it, really liked this one.

Only character I dislike, after its all said and done, is the ridiculous "I'm a Good Muslim" sheriff. Literally every scene in the series, any time he opens his mouth, that is his only point. Look at me, I'm a good muslim, but I get persecuted for being a muslim! I tolerated it until he pulled that goddam madeup "Muslims love Jesus too!" shit in the PTA meeting.

Fuck you dude, Muslims don't "love Jesus too". Preaching tolerance for a minority religion shouldnt have to involve blatantly making up fake shit about it. I can respect "We think you're all wrong and going to hell but we can agree to disagree", but don't make up this "we're all the same" shit.

Pretty much every other character was great. The way the love interest went out was great.

Intrinsic said:

Maybe it wasn't within the scope of the story or I just blanked out for a second, but was the motivation for the "Angel" ever discussed? Was he just hiding out for years until he found an influential / crazy enough priest to go back to an isolated place and start converting an army? Or was there any real motivation at all and everything was just the design of a human when given this ability and these choices?

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If Im remembering right he was just in hiding in that cave. And then he used the Priest to find him new villages to feed on and turn people essentially. They didnt seem to go any further than that.

The vampire's tomb was buried in the sand then a sandstorm revealed it and the priest wandered in.

I don't think they specified a time frame but I interpreted it as a long fucking time, like thousands of years or something.

Aldarion said:

I think it was just the usual motivation for a vampire thats been buried for thousands of years, he was hungry.

Finished it, really liked this one.

Only character I dislike, after its all said and done, is the ridiculous "I'm a Good Muslim" sheriff. Literally every scene in the series, any time he opens his mouth, that is his only point. Look at me, I'm a good muslim, but I get persecuted for being a muslim! I tolerated it until he pulled that goddam madeup "Muslims love Jesus too!" shit in the PTA meeting.

Fuck you dude, Muslims don't "love Jesus too". Preaching tolerance for a minority religion shouldnt have to involve blatantly making up fake shit about it. I can respect "We think you're all wrong and going to hell but we can agree to disagree", but don't make up this "we're all the same" shit.

Pretty much every other character was great. The way the love interest went out was great.

Spoiler

The vampire's feeding on her and she's cutting holes in his wings. When he gets distracted, she pulls his mouth back down to her neck, like "no, keep eating, I'm almost done here". Bad ass

As far as "did the winged vampire die?", I thought that was pretty clear when the black chicks legs went numb again. The head vampire dies, all the effects of his blood go away.

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Re: the winged vampire...that actually makes more sense. For some weird reason I assumed it was the priest dying that controlled the 'miracles' but it's wasn't his blood, it was the 'angel'.

going through this now.

I don't think the "this is not how Christian masses go" is really on target. the basic mass was spot on. Yes, the Sermons were over the top. but.. it makes sense in the context. the guy is not a normal priest. He's a "new" guy talking to a new congregation. He is also specifically charged up for Ash Wednesday. and.. he has ulterior motives.

Bigger issue I have is the island population size. Show of this type ALWAYS have this problem. 2 dedicated ferrys for at least 4 trips a day is stated in the first episode. this island has to have a population of at least 3000. Church at max capacity is like 100 people... School is treated like its 1860, with 2 teachers and 15 kids total..

Another issue is again, something that comes up ALOT in movies like this. The Muslim guy insists the miracles aren't real to his kid, because God can't work that way. specifically, God can't heal some people, while letting others get cancer. No religious person thinks like that. thats bad Atheist logic. Christians specifically have the answer to that in Grace, and Original sin. Life is suffering, and Eternal bliss in the Kingdom of Heaven is core to Christianity. Original sin. AND, Grace is given by God at his whim. you can not EARN your way into Heaven.
God does let bad things happen to good people, because this is just the beginning.
Now, I don't actually know what Muslim justification is, but I'm sure its something similar, and not that bad Atheist logic of if God lets bad things happen in our Mortal lives, then he either doesn't exist or is evil.
its so frustrating when movies/tv shows like this deal with souls, afterlife, and supernatural elements, then focus on mortal death or suffering. Characters who belief in Eternal afterlives, renouncing God due to mortal suffering. Like, if you were bitten by a vampire and turned. and, the cross, etc had a real effect on you, proving that God exists. would you say, "Fuck god, Im going to go eat people", or would that prove to you God exists, and cause you accept God into your heart, and probably commit suicide or something. (granted, not sure how the cardinal sin of suicide works when turned into a vampire..)
still going on this. not sure how the vampire rules of running water, home soil, or crosses work. the church being the epicenter, of course, suggests they don't here.


not a fan of the obnoxiously monstrous church lady. oh, and the old lady makeup/voice is super unconvincing.

haha. this cop stopping the show dead and going on about his tragic backstory for like 10 minutes. Bro. focus. "and you want me to investigate st. patricks?" well, I mean you do have like 3 missings persons cases going on.. two of which have direct contact with the pastor via AA meetings... and this doctor comes to you with a potential conspiracy involving them..

"30 miles of water in every direction". that stopped me for a second too. thats really far. theres very few islands that far out. Nantucket is about the only one that far out. then Bermuda.

went looking and did find this island.. actually fits the previous criteria.. Ferry with 3+ stops daily, only 69 population. a single schoolhouse with 1 teacher.. highschool is on the mainland though.

Qhue said:

I actually viewed it as very pro-Christian inasmuch as it's a love-letter to Flanagan's memories of growing up as an altar boy as well as holding a mirror up to faith. The only character that's anti-Christian is, ironically enough, the character that likes to think of herself as a Jesus Warrior. Even the devout atheist, Riley, is sympathetic to Erin's notion of God and death.

Every episode was aligned with a biblical chapter and in each there were literal and allegorical references to the core material.

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I'm not sure how you came to that, when the Christians are all wrong. Christian iconography has no effect on the vampire. Erins first notion of death is countered later by her final one, which is "we are all seemless energy, and God doesn't exist, there is just us a single energy being, and there is no self." is not a Christian notion of God or Humanity at all. thats someone watched Neon Genesis Evangelion. There is a Jewish Kabbalah for single being.
If WE are God, and not Gods Children, then, why would we need Jesus's sacrifice to enter the kingdom of Heaven? we are God. None of God's will or decrees make much sense if we are God and we return to being a single being after death either. Also NGE is an overrated piece of crap.

The themes then with the vampire.. are muddled. The Vampire wants commune on Earth. they expressly say everyone is linked through him. So... is space hivemind communism good or bad? the town itself is remote and isolated. like a persons self. is that good or bad?

Anyway, on to Chapelwaite now.

Long, slow, odd, lots of talking, couple (tiny) stumbles but very happy with this.

It a roundabout way it reminds of me Late Phases.



Late Phases stars the guy who played Mister in Stake Land (very good vampire flick) and it has that kind of slow, dialogue driven story with supernatural elements (werewolves).

Just binged the whole thing and for the most part I liked it. I thought it was a great example of Good Religion and Bad Religion.


But the show definitely had some weak points in its theology, most of which have already been written about here. I'll write it out because I just finished the show and I was annoyed by it.

"How could a loving God allow such horrible things to happen!" Because life is pain. This is all preparatory and you were always going to die anyway, it doesn't matter how it happens because living a full and happy life is not the point. IDK just basic Atheist 101 stuff that 14 year olds on Reddit espouse because they think they have all the answers when they cannot even keep their bedroom clean.

reavor said:

Yeah, the show had a lot of strengths, but the usual SJW crap snuk in and brought it down a few notches.

Spoiler

the death of the main character was stupid. here watch me comit suicide in a moronic attempt to convince you to run. oh, I guess you're just going back to the island anyway.

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Vandyn said:

I thought the show was pretty good although a little dissatisfied with the ending.

Spoiler

Apparently nobody on the island had ever watched a vampire movie so it never occurred to any of them (including crazy Beth until the very end) that they could dig a grave for shelter from the daylight (they are already dead). Also it never occurred to the survivors to simply wait out the vampires until daylight and then burn the rec center down while they are sleeping (Beth even mentions this). They also leave the fate of the winged vampire up to the viewer to determine if it ever made it to land before daylight (assuming it didn't).

Beyond that though I still give it 7.5/10. It's an interesting take on a vampire story.

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