The anthology series has been done to death since American Horror Story took the mantle almost ten years ago. While that show has had its ups and downs, it’s safe to say that the AHS fatigue was in full effect. That fatigue turned excitement in 2018, as writer/director Mike Flanagan changed the game with The Haunting of Hill House, a stylish series, moving and full of ghosts, both literal and metaphorical, leading to one of the most impactful horror series/entries in quite some time.
It’s no surprise that there was quite the anticipation for his follow-up, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and like its predecessor, Bly Manor brilliantly continues Mike Flanagan’s methodical and cerebral examination of the family dynamic. It conceptualizes ideas that the actual ghosts and hauntings are not in a manor but within ourselves. No matter the location, we are all haunted by something.
Season 2 changes it up as it is based loosely on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, an 1898 horror novella. Bly Manor is set in the 1980s and follows American au pair Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) hired by Sir Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas) to care for his orphaned niece and nephew, Flora (Amelie Smith) and Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), at the manor. Once Dani arrives, things take a turn as she is startled by Flora and Mike’s perplexing behavior, which set in motion the events throughout season 2.
Bly Manor works best when it’s not aiming for the quintessential jump scares. Flanagan structures this episodic marvel as a dive into the human emotion. It examines the consequences of selfishness, heartbreak while highlighting the impact of love. The slow burn nature of the season may turn some away; however, this choice helps maintains the ability to jump scares and more subtle and unsettling moments to be sprinkled throughout the season effectively.
The Haunting of Bly Manor sees the return of many familiar faces that have worked with Flanagan, not just on Hill House but also on other projects. Victoria Pedretti’s turn as Dani is a tour de force. Every bit of her expressions, verbally and physically, is both awe-inducing and heartbreaking. Pedretti’s star continues to rise after Bly Manor, which adds to her already impressive resume, including Hill House and Academy Award nominee Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Season 2’s episodic highlights fall on the gutwrenching final shot of the season and one that stars Hill House alumnus Kate Siegel. The episode is fear-invoking, yet also beautiful and elegant. The episode falls in line as one of the best episodes of any series this year.
While there is much to praise revolving around this season, some choices leave little to be desired. Unfortunately, Mike Flanagan does not direct the majority of episodes as he did with Hill House. This created an uneven feel for me to the season’s overall tone and narrative structure as Flanagan’s style is seen in the stronger episodes. You can feel that others directed some of the weaker episodes of the season.
Flanagan’s go-to cinematographer Michael Fimognari is missing. In turn, James Kniest and Maxime Alexandre’s cinematography, while commendable, fails to live up to the masterful cinematography of Hill House.
The Haunting of Bly Manor continues the Flanagan Midas touch. The nine episodes will create quite the conversation once it releases on October 9th as one of the year’s best shows.
