Midnight Mass Is So Much More Than a Vampire Story
Nerdy Up North Podcast
The setup
Riley Flynn returns to the isolated community of Crockett Island after serving time in prison. At the same time, a new priest arrives at the local church and seemingly miraculous events begin happening across the island. What initially looks like a story about faith and second chances gradually becomes something much darker.
Midnight Mass is one of those shows where saying too much about what actually happens would ruin part of what makes it work. Going into it without knowing where the story is heading is definitely the best way to watch it.
What surprised me most was how easy it was to binge despite how dialogue-heavy it is. There are massive conversations and long monologues throughout the series, but I never felt like I was waiting for something to happen. The conversations are the story. You learn so much about these people, their beliefs, their guilt and the things they are trying to live with.
The whole Crockett Island setting gives it massive Stephen King vibes. It feels like a real little community where everybody knows everybody else's business, which makes everything that happens later hit much harder.
Religion is obviously a huge part of Midnight Mass, but I really liked that it never just turns into a show mocking religious people. There is genuine comfort and community built around the church. The horror comes from what happens when faith becomes blind faith and people become willing to ignore logic because they believe they are witnessing a miracle.
The characters are ridiculously well written. Even people who don't have massive amounts of screen time feel like they have actual lives outside what we are seeing. Bev is absolutely horrible, but she is horrible because she genuinely feels like a person who could exist. Father Paul is far more complicated than you initially expect, and Riley's story gives the series so much of its emotional weight.
There are scenes in this that are genuinely uncomfortable and upsetting without needing monsters jumping out of dark corners. Some of the conversations between characters are more intense than anything traditionally scary in the show.
By the end it becomes tragic, emotional and strangely beautiful. Almost everyone is having the worst possible night of their lives and somehow Mike Flanagan still manages to make the ending feel incredibly satisfying.
I also love that it ends. Seven episodes, one complete story and that's it. I don't want a sequel or another season explaining everything. It tells the story it wanted to tell and gets out.
Positives
Fantastic characters; brilliant performances; Crockett Island feels like a real community; tackles faith, guilt, grief, addiction and trauma without treating them as simple subjects; genuinely emotional; excellent slow-burn horror; incredibly bingeable despite being dialogue-heavy; a brilliant ending that doesn't need continuing.
Negatives
The amount of dialogue and long monologues won't work for everyone; some of the animal-related scenes are difficult to watch; there are so many themes running through it that it can occasionally feel overwhelming.
Verdict
Midnight Mass starts as a mysterious drama about a struggling island community and slowly reveals something much darker underneath. The horror is great, but the characters, conversations and ideas about faith are what stayed with me. It is tragic, unsettling and somehow beautiful at the same time, and most importantly it knows exactly when to end.
