Since 2016, director Mike Flanagan has released a new project each year, never working on something without having any idea of what’s next. Indeed, while there’s currently no release date, based on his track record we can expect his next project, the Edgar Allen Poe-inspired miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher later this year, while Midnight Mass was only released this past autumn.
Flanagan has graced audiences with a wide variety of films and miniseries since his humble beginnings with Absentia in 2011, and each project serves to hone and tighten his craft even further. While waiting for what is sure to be a hit with Usher, here’s how his past work stacks up on Metacritic.
Absentia (2011) - No Score
Flanagan’s first feature, Absentia, follows two sisters as they begin to notice a pattern of disappearances centered around a creepy tunnel nearby, including the husband of one of the sisters. Tensions rise as a feeling of mistrust slowly festers between the sisters and everyone around them, reaching a maddening boiling point at the film’s climax.
Absentia’s absence from Metacritic is not entirely surprising, given the film’s modest production, budgeted at $70,000 raised by Flanagan via Kickstarter. The narrative also suffers either from Flanagan’s inexperience or simple production limitations. However, given its roots, it’s a fine example of how to work with micro budgets, resulting in a creepy little tale.
Doctor Sleep (2019) - 59
Released in 2019, Doctor Sleep is the sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, both of which are based on the Stephen King novels of the same names. It follows a grown-up Danny Torrence on his recovery from alcoholism, and his mentoring of a young girl with the “shine” as she’s targeted by a convent of psychic vampires (the True Knot, headed by Rebecca Furguson's Rose the Hat). Dan’s fight with the True Knot spans across the US, culminating in a final battle where it all started: the Overlook Hotel.
Doctor Sleep is nothing short of brilliant, marrying the wildly different legacies of both King’s Shining and Kubrick’s, as well as elevating the Doctor Sleep novel. While it was never going to surpass Stanley Kubrick's film and isn't the highest-rated project of Flanagan's, Doctor Sleep proves to be a worthy sequel.
Oculus (2013) - 61
2013’s Oculus follows a brother and sister as they investigate the mysterious origins of a haunted mirror that killed their parents. This is made all the more complicated as the brother, who was blamed for the murders, doesn’t believe in the mirror’s power, chalking his past up to a psychotic break married with amnesia. As the sister methodically plans out the documentation of the mirror’s evil, it plays nasty tricks on them for its survival until the film’s tragic end.
Oculus is an expansion of one of Flanagan’s short student films, Oculus: Chapter 3, and it’s clear that his strikingly original idea of a haunted mirror stuck with him until he was able to put a studio budget behind it years later. With twists and turns worthy of Shyamalan and Nolan, Flanagan’s first studio work is certainly one to watch.
The Haunting Of Bly Manor (2020) - 63
The follow-up to 2018’s The Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor sees Flanagan reworking Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, following an au pair (played by scream queen Victoria Pedretti) and her fellow housekeepers as they care for two affluent children in the titular Bly Manor. Beset both by personal ghosts and the ghosts of the house, the residents of Bly must stick together and care for one another if they are to survive.
More gothic romance than outright horror, Bly examines the nature of romantic and familial love, as well as grief and guilt. The characters’ sins weigh heavily on them, and while some of those characters’ guilt is better expressed than others, Bly is still an excellent entry from Flanagan as he expands his thematic interests.
Ouija: Origin Of Evil (2016) - 65
Ouija: Origin of Evil is the prequel to the Hasbro-licensed critical bomb Ouija. It follows a mother who works as a phony but well-meaning spiritual medium, and her two daughters, as the three seek to expand the business by bringing in a Ouija board. After they use it, however, they give power to some of their house’s terrible history.
As a prequel to another Hasbro film failure, the fact that the film was greenlit at all is bizarre. However, in Flanagan’s hands, he makes the material shine as he deals with his tried-and-true themes of familial trauma and grief. What could have been the beginning of Flanagan’s descent into a director-for-hire career turned out to be a unique step in his filmmaking journey, and is well worth a watch.
Hush (2016) - 67
2016’s Hush is a home invasion film with a twist, taking place over the course of one night as a deaf writer fights off her masked attacker. Co-written with wife, actress, and Flanagan regular Kate Siegel, Hush is a tense, survival horror that is sure to make people think twice about living isolated in the woods.
Released at a time when the home invasion subgenre was starting to feel stale, Hush offers a unique twist with its singular, deaf protagonist, as well as the story echoing elements of Halloween, Misery, and Flanagan’s later adaptation of Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game. It also provides glimpses of Flanagan’s eventual passion project Midnight Mass as the film features an in-universe novel of the same name and story. While perhaps Flanagan’s simplest film, it is no less brilliant than his other works.
Before I Wake (2016) - 68
Diverting from horror into dark fantasy, 2016’s Before I Wake is about a couple who adopts a young boy after the loss of their biological son. While a perfectly good kid, it’s soon discovered that the boy has the strange yet unintentional power to physically manifest his dreams into the real world– both the good dreams and the bad.
Though the film suffered from multiple years of release and distribution setbacks, it still managed to find its audience upon release. The film approaches a well-worn horror trope, that of a kid suffering from nightmares, with the sense of compassion that Flanagan has become known for. While it may not be a horror in the traditional sense Before I Wake is another worthy entry from Flanagan.
Midnight Mass (2021) - 75
One of the best horror shows of 2021, Midnight Mass follows Riley Flynn as he is released from prison into the custody of his parents on a solitary and impoverished island town. Meanwhile, a new priest has arrived in town, performing miracles and growing church attendance, but viewers are left wondering if his purposes are wholly altruistic. It’s best to go into Midnight Mass without any spoilers beyond that, as the reveal breathes new life into a classic horror trope.
Midnight Mass is a passion project that had lived in Flanagan’s head for quite some time, as references to it began popping up years earlier in both Hush and Gerald’s Game. While the series is often bogged down by long monologues, it offers a fair and compelling look at the concept of faith from several angles, all of which deserve to be heard.
Gerald’s Game (2017) - 77
Once again based upon the Stephen King novel of the same name, Gerald’s Game is about a couple’s getaway gone horribly wrong. In this thriller hidden gem on Netflix, the husband Gerald dies from a heart attack in the middle of sexual escapades, while the wife Jessie is handcuffed in bed - completely alone.
Thought to be unfilmable, Flanagan masterfully adapts King’s novel to the medium of film, making practical changes to express the story visually while remaining faithful to the source material, almost to a fault. Released in 2017 amidst a host of other King adaptations, Gerald’s Game arguably stands above the others thanks to Flanagan’s vision, igniting a working relationship with King that led to Doctor Sleep.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018) - 79
Flanagan’s first foray into television, The Haunting of Hill House reworks the Shirley Jackson novel of the same name, following the Crane family as they navigate a recent loss in the context of a loss from their past.
Using the novel more as a jumping-off point than an actual adaptation, Flanagan utilizes the themes found in Jackson’s novel in a modern setting, while injecting his own brand of heartfelt horror into the story. Tense from start to finish and boasting one of the best horror TV show scores, the approach worked exceedingly well, indicative of Hill House's top-spot placement. The show may be what ultimately put Flanagan on the map, and that alone makes it deserving of love and respect.