“I’ve invested my whole life in this house,” shouts an exasperated Developer (Jarvis Cocker, “Fantastic Mr. Fox”), who also happens to be a mouse. Welcome to “The House,” the latest project from Academy Award-nominated animation studio, Nexus (“This Way Up”). Now on Netflix, this stop motion anthology is a delightfully mordant exploration of the perils of putting too much of yourself into your house. Especially one that may or may not be cursed. Set over three time periods with wholly unconnected characters, each part is directed by innovators in stop motion animation: Emma de Swaef & Marc James Roels, Niki Lindroth von Bahr, and Paloma Baeza. The directors have story by credits for their segments, with a melancholic screenplay by Enda Walsh (“Hunger”) and an expressive score by Gustavo Santaolalla (“Babel”) turning each story into a collective whole.
Directed by Swaef & Roel, “And Heard Within. A Lie Is Spun,” introduces the titular house’s architect: the eccentric Mr. Van Schoonbeek. Described as a “great artist” who desires nothing more than creative freedom, his assistant convinces the poor, but striving Raymond (Mathew Goode) to move his wife Penny (Claudie Blakley) and two young daughters Mabel (Mia Goth) and Isobel into his newly constructed house rent-free. Of course, this offer is too good to be true. Like the Winchester Mystery House, Van Schoonbeek keeps the house under constant construction. Soon Mabel and Isobel have to fend for themselves as their parents fall under his beguiling spell.
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Swaef & Roel’s exquisite attention to detail in the finery of the house creates a world as lush and eerie as the finest Victorian ghost story adaptations that were so popular in the ’60s and ’70s on the BBC and PBS. The beady little eyes on the puppets add to the uneasy atmosphere. Goode and Blakley are in fine form as the parents with their not-quite-posh accents, but it’s Goth who steals the show. Delivering her lines like a gentle whisper, she’s the very definition of a cursed Victorian child brought to life.
The story continues in the present day with Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s section, “Then Lost Is Truth That Can’t Be Won,” where Cocker’s aforementioned stressed-out Developer desperately attempts to fix up the Van Schoonbeek’s estate. Swedish director Von Bahr has made a name for herself with festival favorite shorts exploring existential themes through anthropomorphic animals (definitely seek out “The Burden”), and her section does not disappoint. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong for the Developer—from a messed up delivery of groceries that leads to him serving energy drinks out of champagne flutes and canapes made from instant ramen and Cheetos at an open house, to a bug infestation that leads to a surreal Busy Berkeley-esque dance number.
Von Bahr’s signature humor comes in full force when the segment turns even darker after the misbegotten open house, forcing the Developer to face his true nature. The unique lilt to Cocker’s voice brings forward both the Developer’s frustration but also highlights the true absurdity of a mouse developing real estate. And a pair of creepy vermin squatters voiced by Swedish actors Sven Wollter and Yvonne Lombard seamlessly connect this segment back to the creepy Victorian ghost story vibes of the first part.
Baeza’s concluding chapter “Listen Again and Seek The Sun” jumps forward into a post-apocalyptic flooded wasteland where the Van Schoonbeek estate appears to be the only building still standing. Frustrated young landlord Rosa (Susan Wokoma, “Chewing Gum”), who happens to be a tabby cat, is determined to refurbish the now dilapidated house so she can attract better tenants. Currently, her two tenants Elias (Will Sharpe) and Jen (Helena Bonham Carter) pay in fish and crystals respectively. When Jen’s throat singing hippie life partner Cosmos (Paul Kaye) sails into the picture all of Rosa’s precarious plans begin to fall apart.
Bonham Carter is a hoot as the flibbertigibbet Jen, but it’s Wokoma’s voicework as the determined Rosa in which this last chapter finds its emotional weight. As her compatriots beg her to sail away with them while the floodwaters rise, Rosa digs in her heels insisting “the house deserves” her love and attention. It’s here the theme of the entire anthology comes into sharp focus.
All three stories feature characters so obsessed with the house that they forget the most basic truth: a house is not necessarily a home. Cocker supplies a song over the credits with lyrics that underscore this, crooning, “home is where you never feel alone, a house is nothing but a collection of bricks.” However, with a house as magical (or cursed?) as the Van Schoonbeek estate, letting go proves a much harder task than just coming to this realization.
The art direction of each segment is so rich you can feel the power the house has over its inhabitants, just as the strong voice work of the cast brings to life a deeper well of emotions than you’d expect from creepy dolls and anthropomorphic animals. With its dark humor and excellent execution, “The House” offers a striking showcase for the singular talents of its directors and the limitless possibilities of stop motion animation. [B+]
“The House” hits Netflix on January 14.