The Night House - What We Know So Far

If one of humanity's greatest fears is fear of the unknown, then a well-made horror story must also be a well-made mystery. After all, it is the feeling of intrigue generated by the unknown that makes both so alluring. In horror's case, that intrigue creates the fear and suspense viewers feel (at least in the case of some supernatural horror) as they can never fully understand what it is they are seeing.

With that in mind, horror fans might feel inclined to look forward to "The Night House," an upcoming supernatural horror film with a beguiling mystery behind its premise. After the sudden death of her husband, a grieving widow experiences visions and hauntings, motivating her to look deeper into the skeletons in her family's closet. The surreal and disturbing truths hinted at by the film's trailer only serve to heighten the mystery — and the horror — at hand.

With a film release scheduled for later this summer, "The Night House" is a film that should be on any horror fan's radar. Much is still unknown about the film and the spine-tingling secrets it hides, but we do have the basics regarding its release, cast, and story. Here is what we know so far about "The Night House."

To some, the rest of the world is behind the times when it comes to "The Night House." The film already had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. According to Deadline, the film made an impression as seven separate film distributors took interest and offered money for the film's distribution rights. In the end, the rights were eventually given to Searchlight Pictures at the whopping price of $12 million.

However, that was over a year ago. It's taken Searchlight until recently to finally announce a theatrical release date. Even then, the company has already changed the date. According to Bloody Disgusting, a news site based on horror films, Searchlight originally planned for a July 16, 2021, theater release date before moving it up to August 20. Thankfully, this is only the first (and hopefully last) delay that "The Night House" has suffered.

Based on what's shown in the official trailer, "The Night House" keeps a rather tight cast. Thankfully, they've got a strong team of actors backing up the story's limited number of characters. The cast is led off by Rebecca Hall as Beth, the recent widow who begins uncovering dark secrets about her husband after he dies by suicide. Monster movie fans might recognize Hall for her recent work as Ilene, King Kong's caretaker in the film "Godzilla vs. Kong" (via IMDb).

Supporting Hall's central role is actress Sarah Goldberg, who portrays Beth's friend Claire. Goldberg is a seasoned actress with appearances in "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Barry," the dark comedy series starring Bill Hader. Likewise, the actresses are further supported by the likes of Vondie Curtis-Hall ("Broken Arrow," "Chicago Hope"), Stacy Martin ("The Serpent"), and Evan Jonigkeit ("X-Men: Days of Future Past").

As previously discussed, "The Night House" follows Beth, a newly widowed wife who begins looking into her husband's secrets after his death. Her husband, Owen, suddenly and inexplicably kills himself in a rowboat late one night while out on the lake adjacent to the couple's house. Leaving a mysterious and concerning note to his wife regarding her safety, Owen leaves Beth grieving and with many questions. After experiencing odd visions and bearing witness to a ghostly presence, Beth begins looking through her husband's belongings.

What she finds shocks her to her core. The trailer does not make it clear if this is Beth's reality or merely a hallucination, but she discovers a nearby reflected facsimile of her own house. Everything appears to be the same except that every detail is reflected as if one were viewing it in a mirror. When Beth explores the house, she seemingly finds an alternate version of herself. However, this would appear to be only the tip of the iceberg.

Whether the content we are shown in the trailer is real within "The Night House's" world is unknown. But it raises enough questions that one can't help but be curious. What is this other house? What secrets could Owen be hiding? What is the mysterious entity threatening Beth's safety? All of this, and more, will hopefully be answered when "The Night House hits theaters this August.