Those who look at the new Netflix miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher starting this Thursday looking for a classic adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s famous story will leave completely disappointed. The thing is that in the proposal of horror film star Mike Flanagan, the original story of the brothers Roderick and Madeline Usher is simply a condiment. In what many American critics have described as a medley of themes, the tributes to the legendary writer and poet born in Boston in 1809 are simply one more color.
It is true that in the first chapter there is a story that takes place in the 19th century about a narrator who helps the protagonist bury his cataleptic sister in the garden of his house, only to discover to his horror the next day that she has managed to get out of his house. grave, but it only takes up a few minutes in the eight episodes that, set in the present day, take a completely different path.
And although there is no shortage of crows, Gothic mansions, stormy nights and the names of many of his characters, Flanagan is more interested in creating his own universe than in following Poe, although fans of the writer will find entire paragraphs taken from the dialogues. of his texts.
Considered one of the masters of contemporary horror, emerging from genre cinema with blockbusters such as Oculus: The Mirror of Evil, Hush and Doctor Sleep with Ewan McGregor, Flanagan has built an empire on the small screen, thanks to his association with Netflix, for which he has made the successful miniseries Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor.
In a curious combination between Dopesick: Story of an Addiction and Succession, his new miniseries tells the story of Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), who has become a billionaire with his pharmaceutical company, Fortunato, which manufactures an opiate similar to Oxycontin, Ligodone. , with which millions of people have become addicted. In his mansion, the House of Usher, there are plenty of dinners at a table long enough to accommodate all of his children, eight in total, who constantly plot to try to stay in control of the company.
But this is not Jesse Armstrong’s series and that is why in each episode, we will see how the potential heirs die one by one in the most horrible ways imaginable. This is no secret, since in the first episode, and as the narrative that will chain the entire story, Roderick receives the prosecutor C. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly) at his house, in an obvious homage to The Street Murders Morgue, and while he confesses all his sins, he says without exhibiting any emotion that in a very short time he has lost all his children.
The cast is filled with actors who are part of Flanagan’s usual troupe, such as his real-life wife, Kate Siegel, who here plays one of Roderick’s illegitimate daughters, Camille L’Espanaye, who is also the head of company public relations, “E.T” child Henry Thomas as Usher’s eldest son Frederick, Rahul Kohli as Napoleon, one of the illegitimate sons, and Samantha Sloyan as Tamerlane, the eldest daughter.
Carla Gugino, who has also collaborated with him on several occasions, plays Verna, a mysterious woman seeking revenge, while Mark Hamill joins the group as Arthur Pymm, the company’s lawyer, always ready to solve problems. A special place in the series is occupied by two-time Oscar-nominated actress Mary McDonnell, as Madeline, the owner of half of the Usher fortune.
