The House on Netflix is a stop-motion film telling three different stories about three different sets of characters connected by one house. The first story revolves around a human family that enters a suspicious arrangement with a creepy architect. The architect offers to build the house for free if the family agrees to move in and never leave.
An anthropomorphic rat looking to sell the house features in the second story. He plans to renovate the building and sell it at a profit, but he can’t seem to get rid of the bugs. The third story features an anthropomorphic cat that has converted the house into an apartment building. Unfortunately, the cat’s tenants leave after a flood, and the remaining ones don’t pay rent.
The House isn’t scary, but it is an uncomfortable watch
The House isn’t scary in the traditional sense: It features no gore, terrifying jump scares, or psychological dread. However, it’s quite an uncomfortable watch.
The video quality is impeccable, making the humans in part one appear somewhat odd. They have broad faces, with tiny facial features cramped in the middle. The family’s patriarch despises their rural home and the ridicule he receives for living there.
To get revenge on his enemies, he hires an ‘architect of great renown’ to build a mansion for the family for free. The only price is that the family must never leave the new, lavish home. Raymond jumps at the opportunity of acquiring a higher status in society and making others jealous.
At first, Raymond’s gamble appears to have paid off: the house has fabulous lighting, and extravagant food appears on the dining table. However, Raymond’s daughter Mabel starts noticing the zombified workers who only work at night and suddenly take away the staircase.
Things get more terrifying after the architect gifts the parents clothes that make them look like ornaments in the house. You get a feeling that there’s something sinister in the works, and the ending justifies that feeling.
Part two is perhaps the most depressing of the three. An anthropomorphic rat looking to renovate and sell the house can’t seem to catch a break. He acquires oppressive loans during a recession – loans he hopes to repay once he sells the home.
He spares no expense in his endeavor, but what seems to be millions of fur beetles stand in his way. No matter what he tries, he can’t get rid of the singing (yes, they sing) maggots. This part is uncomfortable to watch because we don’t know why the rat gets such rotten luck.
Part three doesn’t sink further into dread and provides an ending to smile about. It features an anthropomorphic cat who’s turned the house into an apartment building. The post-apocalyptic setting shows the house surrounded by a flood that has prompted most tenants to leave.
The remaining two tenants no longer pay rent. The house isn’t safe and habitable as the water keeps rising. However, just when you think that the cats will face a dire fate, the house reveals a neat trick that saves the residents.