Midnight Mass is the latest installment in Mike Flanagan's Netflix horror shows. It isn't as up-front with the horror and ghosts as his previous two works, but it is no less enthralling. This series contains heavy commentary on religion and its effect on both believers and non-believers.
With such a heavy message, the story also needs strong characters to hold it up. The residents of Crockett Island are diverse in their beliefs and personalities. Each of them can be summed up in a symbolic quote from the acclaimed series.
When the audience first meets Riley he is arriving on Crockett Island after being imprisoned for drunk driving and manslaughter. He is struggling with being in the real world after his years in prison. All Riley wants is to find his purpose and begin living again. However, this is hard to do on such a small, Christian island.
This discussion he has about death with Erin reveals Riley's true desires. Drunk driving ruined not only his life but the lives of so many around him. Riley believes death will be a relief because he will no longer have to suffer from his past mistakes.
Riley's father, Ed, is a very gruff character for much of Midnight Mass. He barely speaks and when he does it's often very rough. However, much like the rest of the island, Ed begins to change with the arrival of Father Paul.
After discussions with Father Paul about Riley's recovery, Ed finds it necessary to apologize to Riley for not always being the best dad. This conversation, and specifically this quote, reveal how Ed really feels for Riley. Ed is disappointed in the choices that Riley has made, but he still loves his son fiercely.
When the audience meets Leeza she is confined to a wheelchair due to a tragic shooting from her childhood. However, shortly after Father Paul arrives on Crockett Island Leeza is able to walk again. It's a miracle.
This quote from Leeza is essential to her character. She is the daughter of the mayor and has been practicing Christianity for as long as she can remember. Forgiveness is a key pillar in Christianity, so it is a true testament to Lezza's faith that she is willing to forgive the man who stole her ability to walk for so many years.
Mildred Gunning is Sarah Gunning's elderly mother who is suffering from severe dementia. In an effort to include her in mass, Father Paul makes home visits to give her communion every day. Because Mildred is drinking the vampire's blood every day, she began a miraculous recovery.
Fans soon learn Father Paul, or Monsignor Pruitt, targeted Mildred because he is in love with her. But this quote from Mildred really speaks to her character. She understands that the mortality of man is important to their belief system, and Pruitt should not have messed with that balance.
Sarah is the resident doctor of Crockett Island and one of the few residents who does not attend mass. Mildred is Sarah's mother and, as the audience eventually learns, Father Paul is her father. Sarah deserved more than the ending that she got.
This quote comes from the story Sarah tells about Ignaz Semmelweis. It perfectly sums up Saah's place within this story. She is the scientist who is trying to understand something no one else believes to be true. Despite this, Srah pushes forward with her investigation because she cannot allow people to get hurt because of her negligence.
Although Midnight Mass has a whole cast of main characters, Erin is one of the most central characters. Everyone knows her and she is somehow connected to each of them. Erin left Crockett to get away from her abusive mother but has returned after discovering she is pregnant.
In Erin's last moments, she gives a beautiful speech about death and God. This is incredibly important to her character. It reveals her true faith in which she reconciles how both God and the cosmos exist as one. It is a do-over of her idea of death that she explained to Riley earlier in the series. Although the speech is touching, it is also Midnight Mass's saddest moment.
Sheriff Hassan is the newest addition to Crockett island along with his son, Ali. He moved them to Crockett Island after facing racial prejudice in his old precinct and losing his wife to a cancer battle. Unfortunately, Hassan still faces much prejudice from many of the island's residents.
This quote from the Sheriff shows the audience his propensity for doing good. He became an officer and detective so that he could protect his country. Even after the horrible things his country has done to him, he still wants to help others in any way he can.
Bev Keane is the religious radical of the town. She loves God and claims to work in his light, but her actions don't always align with that. She takes many of Father Paul's ideas to the extreme. In many ways, Bev was the true villain of Midnight Mass.
This quote is an example of how Bev twists scripture to work for her instead of listening to the actual message behind the religious text. She believes herself to have a better understanding of God than others. In this quote, she is also unwittingly comparing herself to a snake. The snake is a symbol of deception which matches well with many of the things Bev says and does.
Father Paul is actually Crockett Island's Monsignor Pruitt. He was turned into a vampire-like creature while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He then returned to Crockett Island and attempted to share this "gift" he'd been given with the rest of the island's residents. Some of Midnight Mass's scariest moments happen to Father Paul.
When everything goes wrong and the people of Crockett Island begin attacking each other, Father Paul realizes the error in his judgment. He admits he was really doing this for his love of Mildred and Sarah. He shows the audience that he never meant any harm, he only wanted to save the people he loves.
Riley's younger brother Warren is a somewhat quieter character. In many ways he is the typical teenager: he gets high with friends, sneaks out at night, and has a crush on a girl. Unfortunately, this typical life doesn't last for long.
Warren and Leeza Scarbrough are the only characters to survive the Midnight Mass. Warren's realization that he will never see his family again illustrates that he is still a child despite everything that he has gone through. Warren may not have been the best-behaved Christian teenager, but he loved his family and that is what mattered most to him.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/3mGHLkL
0 Comments