Things Heard and Seen Review: Not a Masterpiece

Cinematic adaptations of novels are always interesting to follow. Some, like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, perfectly capture and expound upon their source material. Others, like The Queens Gambit, elevate the material, and then there are adaptations like Things Heard and Seen, which never comes together in its film form as it does on the page.

Part of this has to do with the basic elements of Things Heard and Seen, particularly the history of the Hudson Valley (a character in and of itself) and the heavy art history symbolism and imagery.

Both of these require rich exposition and background to be fully understood, and while the film does its best to telegraph key information, there’s only so far it can go.

Matters are complicated even further when you consider that Things Heard and Seen has two main themes or storylines. It attempts to be both a Gothic-esque psychological horror and a marriage melodrama.

It fares better when it touches on the Claires’ marriage and specifically when it starts to dissect George’s (James Norton) duplicitousness and personal myth-making. The art history element has potential, but never takes off, largely because it requires significant context to fully thread things together.

What may have worked on the page really doesn’t work here. The film’s beginning is promising, but it gets weaker and weaker as it plods along, completely falling apart by the end of its 2 hour runtime, with an inane, self congratulatory ending (excuse me while I roll my eyes at how smart the directors want us to think they are).

One of the primary flaws of the film can be traced to Amanda Seyfried’s Catherine. Seyfried’s developed into a fine actress since her All My Children and Veronica Mars days and her expressive face helps the proceedings, but Catherine’s written with little to no character development.

Much of the story is supposed to hinge on Catherine. She’s the person in the house who feels the most connection with the ghosts/former women of the house, and the film hints that there are a multitude of complexities simmering underneath the surface, impacting and fracturing her marriage to George.

Her eating disorder, her career ambition, her initial ambivalence towards motherhood, and her reticence towards marriage are all hinted at, but therein lies the problem. We’re thrown so many bits and pieces of who she is, but we never really have an opportunity to know anything clearly, let alone understand her.

And without at least understanding her a bit, it’s hard to root for her, which is a kiss of death for a protagonist in a story.

James Norton’s George fares a bit better in terms of character development. There’s still plenty about him that we don’t know but Norton understands his assignment and fitfully performs it.

Seemingly straight out of a Big Little Lies-esque mystery, he understands how to convey his inner ugliness and darkness and wisely never strays into overacting or overplaying a moment, which could have been an easy pitfall here.

Watching this over for his performance, and considering how much Seyfriend’s Catherine is shortchanged throughout the story,  I wonder if this property would have fared better as a series, giving all of its themes and characters more room and time to breathe. 

A series format would have also given us more time with Justine (Rhea Seehorn), by far the most interesting performance and character in the whole film. Scenes with Justine are generally the most interesting of the film; she’s brave enough to go toe to toe with George, and her scene with Catherine brings out more shades of each of them.

Also, unlike Catherine, you get the sense that Justine is a fully formed character, a woman who has lived a life. This may lie partly in the writing, but some credit has to be given to Seehorn, who adds gravitas and complexity to even the simplest of moments.

Overall, Things Heard and Seen is a huge disappointment, shortchanging its characters, its story, and its intellectual and horror elements. While it’s filmed beautifully, it never gets off the ground, and there are a multitude of films and series tackling similar subjects that are much stronger.

Stray observations:

• Did this actually look like the eighties to anyone?
• The ghost element isn’t ever quite fully explained. Are the ghosts present because they reflect the strained relationship of the house’s inhabitants? Does the house attracts faltering partnerships? Or do the ghosts bring out stress in relationships? 
• Why is Natalia Dyer even in this movie? Was she bored and wanted an excuse to ride a horse for a day or two? She’s barely in the film and barely a sketch of a character. It’s a total waste. The same goes for her friend, and apple of Catherine’s eye, played by Alex Neustaedter. Neither plot line or character is developed and because of that, they mostly seem like an unnecessary distraction, rather than a contribution to the overall story.

What did you think of Things Heard and Seen? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Things Heard and Seen is available to stream on Netflix.

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