Flesh and Blood: Turkey, pumpkin pie and murder

— Courtesy of Hulu

Halloween brings tricks, treats, cosplay, and haunted houses. It also brings us closer to Thanksgiving. Turkey, pumpkin pie and football are cool. But we’re horror fans. We need something scary to watch. Hulu has us covered.

Episode two of Blumhouse‘s Into the Dark, Flesh and Blood, premieres Nov. 2nd on Hulu. The anthology series, which premiered earlier this month with The Body, centers each episode on a seasonal holiday.

Flesh and Blood revolves around Thanksgiving. Henry (Dermot Mulroney) and his daughter Kimberly (Diana Silvers) try to cope with the loss of Kimberly’s mom (Meredith Salenger). While it’s natural to be profoundly shaken after the loss of a parent, Kimberly’s mom was murdered. After a year, the killer hasn’t been found. Kimberly becomes agoraphobic. A therapist (Tembi Locke) makes house calls to try and help Kimberly overcome her fears and leave her house before it becomes a prison.

The house does become a prison. Kimberly grows concerned for her safety in the confines of her home. But, her agoraphobia won’t let her leave. What’s after her? Is it something paranormal? Is it her mom’s killer? Is it her dad?

Written by Louis Ackerman (Jaypen Code: 20) and directed by Patrick Lussier (Scream: The TV Series), Flesh and Blood has fun with the amount of creepiness it layers on the story. In true Blumhouse fashion, the 90 minute moviesode is informed by some classic horror. It doesn’t try to remake or parody anything. We just get some premises in a new context.

This review will be mostly spoiler free, but I’ll reference everything that was included in the trailer.

Agoraphobia

Kimberly’s agoraphobia is a character of its own. It’s not a gimmick or an excuse to use special effects. Yes, there are a couple of sequences that use effects, but these are just good instances of showing instead of telling.

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The agoraphobia informs the atmosphere in subtle, effective ways. Kimberly’s home is broken literally and figuratively.

When we first see Kimberly, she’s sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with her mom and dad, who playfully tease each other. This is her family. This is her home. You can see Kimberly has built this as the foundation for her emotional identity. The murder broke that family. Someone from outside her perception of her family has destroyed it.

The actual home does feel benign and welcoming. But, it’s broken. We don’t know how or why, but Henry is always working on some part of the house. He’s usually shrouded by plastic construction tarps. We don’t know what he’s doing behind these curtains, but we know it’s work Kimberly’s mom wanted done before she was murdered.

When it becomes clear that the house is hiding something sinister, Kimberly can’t escape it. She tries. But, she can’t make it out of the front yard. This is one of the most horrifying aspects of the movie. Kimberly’s family home is her refuge, but it may also be her enemy.

Many other TV shows see the main protagonist completely overcome their malady midway through the third or fourth act. They then fight back against the big bad as if there was no conflict in the first place.

I love that Flesh and Blood stays true to the symptoms and suffering of agoraphobia. Something is broken with Kimberly’s home. Something is broken with her family. She just can’t put a finger on what that is.