“The House” is one of the most unnerving and abstract anthologies ever made. Despite its stop motion format, and meticulous attention to detail, “The House” introduces a trio of short films that border on horror but explore more interesting themes. The directors choose to change animation forms through the trio of shorts, and they’re all interconnected with a house that’s basically a menacing character all on its own.
The stop motion anthology explores three chapters that focus on different characters through varying periods of time. The one common thread is their connection to a large house that may or may not be a sentient being. “And heard within, a lie is spun” is about a small impoverished family desperate to be wealthy who move in to a mysterious house at the behest of a mysterious designer. “Then lost is truth that can’t be won” focuses on a realtor who is desperately waging a war on bugs that invade the house he’s desperate to sell off to potential customers. “Listen again and seek the sun” centers on a young cat who is trying to remodel her large house in the middle of a great flood, but comes across a freedom loving companion who shows her there’s more outside her four walls.
Possibly the strongest among the shorts is Emma de Swaef & Marc James Roels’ first chapter, as it’s a dark and menacing short with a penchant for sadistic humor. Much of Chapter One revolves around a small family’s efforts to be considered among their elite group of relatives. The fateful meeting with a designer in the woods prompts dad Raymond to immediately move his family in to their home, at the expense of their lived in current home. The search for wealth and submitting to the idea of materialism rings loud within the first chapter as daughter Mabel (Mia Goth is as good as always) looks for a way to make sense of the house.
All the while her parents are hypnotized by its promise of wealth and higher regard among social circles. The same can be said for the second chapter, which is a much more demented state of affairs, albeit so much more abstract. Directed by Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Jarvis Cocker is great as the unnamed Realtor who views the house as his ticket to wealth, and relies on cold devices to create some sense of connection in his life. The climax for this short is dark and invites a lot of interpretations with ideas about domestication, mental illness, and the grasping for wealth. The weakest among the trio is from Paloma Baeza, whose segment feels awkwardly placed among the darker predecessors.
It’s an interesting and thought provoking tale about expanding your horizons, as well as the idea of clinging to wealth at the end of the world, but doesn’t really adhere to the more sinister explorations in to the search for wealth. That said, “The House” is a good, albeit unusual anthology that often feels like darker Roald Dahl. It’s one that is brilliantly animated, and garners some remarkable voice work from its small cast. Fans of the more straight forward anthology films, though, might find the complex themes and overtones hard to get around. Even people that can appreciate its commentary might have a hard time with it, overall.