The House

Movie review by Jennifer Green, Common Sense Media
The House Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 14+

Language and peril in animated anthology.

NR 2022 97 minutes
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Parents say

age 14+

Based on 1 review

Kids say

age 10+

Based on 8 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that the animated film The House seems intended for adult viewers. While its three stories aren't outright horror, they all evoke a feeling of dread and a sense that something bad is going to happen. The first chapter is especially spooky and characters face threats, seem to go crazy, and die. A little girl has to take care of her baby sister when her parents become incapable, and they face some scary situations. The baby rolls down some stairs at one point. In the second chapter, a rat collapses after inhaling poison and is sent to the hospital. A bug is smashed and we see a finger playing with its mushy guts. In the third chapter, a house is slowly flooding, and a cat hits her head twice and falls several stories into water. A father gets drunk and falls asleep on his plate of food in one chapter, and characters struggle with making ends meet and maintaining a house in all of the stories. Language includes "f--k," "s--t," "damn," "fool," "Christ," "Jesus," "for God's sake," and "Jeez Louise."

Community Reviews

doctora
doctora Adult
November 26, 2022
age 14+

A stop-motion animation dream!

Starts off very strong, whimsical and creepy. The film throughout feels a bit like a horror film, but never truly commits to a genre, at least not in the traditional way, this film does not have to. The film is made of a triptych of stories and it is the first one that feels the most ominous and powerful, the second story ratchets up the creep factor and the third story feels a bit uneven but utilizes hope in a specific way that grabs the attention of the viewer (in case they lost it). The stop-motion animation is wondrous and definitely takes center stage in all three of the narratives although the story structure is not far behind. Intriguing, original and definitely worth your 100 minutes!
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

THE HOUSE is a mansion constructed under mysterious circumstances decades ago. The first family to move in loses everything due to inexplicable incidents. Flash forward to a more contemporary era, and a walking, talking rat now owns the house in a populated area and has invested all his money (and more) into fixing it up in order to desperately try to sell it. Problem is, the house keeps presenting new problems, including an infestation of bugs. In yet another era, a cat is now landlord to the house, which sits alone in a flooded area. She has just two tenants left, neither of whom pay their rent, and only her dreams of trying to complete her home improvements before the entire place is washed away.

Is It Any Good?

This oddball animated film for adult viewers picks up steam over the course of its three chapters, with the last 30-minute tale providing the most emotionally satisfying of the three. The first chapter of The House is a disconcerting story of a doomed family that movies into a haunted house. Placing two small girls at the heart of the story, populated with pasty-white, beady-eyed, fuzzy characters, makes it purposefully hard to watch. The second, more surreal chapter is flat out gross as it devolves into a feast of giant, beetle-like creatures. The final chapter introduces a bit of humor and ends on a magical note. The animation is surely commendable, and larger themes seem to have been intended, but all this effort is undermined by stories with limited narrative appeal.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the animation on display in The House. How were the different chapters made? What techniques were used? Where could you go for more information?

  • What does the house represent across the three different stories? What overarching themes did you notice?

  • How would the second and third chapters have been different if the characters had been humans rather than animals? Why do you think the filmmakers decided to make them those specific animals?

Movie Details

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