MIDNIGHT MASS
I am the light: Hamish Linklater (centre) as an orthodox priest with Annabeth Gish (left) and Samantha Sloyan.
★★★★
OUT NOW (NETFLIX) EPISODES VIEWED 7 OF 7
SHOWRUNNER Mike Flanagan
CAST Hamish Linklater, Kate Siegel, Zach Gilford, Samantha Sloyan, Henry Thomas, Kristin Lehman
PLOT Recovering alcoholic and altar boy-turnedatheist Riley Flynn (Gilford) returns to his isolated island community of Crocket Island — population 127 and falling — after being released from prison. Things take a turn for the strange when mysterious new priest Father Paul Hill (Linklater) arrives and apparently starts performing miracles.
WITH THE HAUNTING Of Hill House and Bly Manor, writer/director Mike Flanagan proved himself a master of longform-TV horror. And while it bears no narrative relation to either of those limited series (despite featuring several familiar faces), his latest show is a worthy, albeit potentially divisive, addition to the Flanacanon. Midnight Mass is primarily a thoughtful though occasionally verbose satire on religion, with Roman Catholicism bearing the brunt of the showrunner’s scrutiny. Its characters cover the spectrum of belief, from the self-righteously pious to the committedly atheistic, not forgetting those who follow a different path to God (represented by the Muslim town sheriff, played by Bly Manor’s Rahul Kohli). The story, initially at least, circles around how each responds to the apparent ability of their new priest (Hamish Linklater) to heal ailments before their eyes. Is this truly the touch of God or… something else?