Things Heard & Seen (2021) User Reviews

Good, until the ending.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 9 September 2021]

What a bizarre, curious movie this was, classified on Netflix as a horror, it is most definitely not a horror, I'd place it more in the thriller genre.

Production values are superb, and the acting is first rate, both James Norton and Amanda Seyfried put in first rate performances, the pair are superb.

Each scene where I saw Norton's white vest popping through the top of his jumper, I saw Sidney Chambers, British fans will of course be familiar with Granchester.

Despite the amazing acting, and the very atmospheric start, I find it hard to forgive the ending, this is a movie in the category of, how not to end a film, it sucks, it's unoriginal, and the movie deserved more.

Overall, very well acted, good story, a poor ending, it's worth a look, 6/10.

Bell Curved on Me.

[kersten-13824 · 4/10 · 29 April 2021]

This had SO much potential. Bummed me right out. It started slowed, built up to something that could have been great, then felt like it tripped over its own pretentiousness and fell flat on its face. Damn. Just made the whole time I watched it feel like a waste.

What happened with the last part?

[editka-79387 · 5/10 · 29 April 2021]

I agree with the reviewer who wrote it builds up to nothing. For the 3/4 part or so it looked more or less like a decent movie, although there was absolutely no suspense, but then?

Like they ran out of money and just ended it. Somehow. :)

The Ending?

[onexmillion · 3/10 · 30 April 2021]

I'll just keep this short and sweet. Turn it off a few minutes before the ending and make your own version up. Your version will without question be better then this.

A movie without guts and without glory

[gabrilapo · 6/10 · 1 May 2021]

"Things Heard & Seen" potentially could have been an unusual movie , but it turns down the expectations. Furthermore, the supernatural events in the movie are unnecessary and unoriginal. Although the actors provide us great performances, the screenplay kinda let us down. Rating: 6.

Weak on the horror

[janedoe5300 · 7/10 · 30 April 2021]

First of all, don't expect a horror movie, this is more of a supernatural thriller with a creepy atmosphere.

I saw it on the release date, and it had already gotten pretty negative reviews. On top of that I don't expect a whole lot from Netflix movies, so I went in with very low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised.

The film is intriguing, it works on the drama and mystery level, and though I'm not easily scared, I would say that the few horror elements in the film are pretty well done. The acting is solid all around, and the direction is capable.

The thing is, and I'm guessing this is due to the fact that it's based on a book, the film tries to do too much. There are characters (Willis) and plot lines (Catherine's bulimia) that you imagine are important in the book, but fail to make the kind of impact on the film that they were clearly meant to. It's hard to go into detail without spoiling, but in short more emphasis on characters and main plot lines would have served the movie well. I have no doubt the source material is fantastic, but the movie could have done better if some of it had just been left in the book.

Which brings us to the two hour run-time, some would argue that it would have been better if it was shorter, I would argue the that the length is what makes the film (mostly) work in the end.

To sum up, a decent supernatural thriller, albeit with a bit too much going on.

Classic 70's style old school, slow burn ghost thriller.

[midnitepantera · 7/10 · 30 April 2021]

If you want 300mph pacing and ridiculous gore fest, then this is NOT for you.

This was a nicely done thriller with supernatural aspects and discussion of art and Heaven and Hell. Chock full of great actors you will recognize like F. Murray Abraham and Karen Allen. It's an enjoyable slow moving dark, moody and spooky movie with some last minute irony. I'm a 70's kid so I liked it reminds me of 70's movies like (1972) The Other and (1976) Burnt Offerings. If you like those 2 movies, you may very well enjoy this movie too. ;D.

Had potential

[merceris · 5/10 · 1 May 2021]

I gave the first 2/3 of the movie a 5 star rating. I thought it had potential as the story unfolded, but, I have no idea why it ended up in the direction that it did. Totally took away from the movie. I gave the ending one star, for WTH?!?

Didn't need to be a ghost story

[jtindahouse · 7/10 · 4 May 2021]

I actually really enjoyed 'Things Heard & Seen' but as I was watching it I kept thinking to myself, why is this a ghost story? The real life characters are interesting and have more than enough depth to carry the story by themselves. The things that they do are interesting, not what's happening to them. I assume it came from a place of wanting to sell the story as a horror movie, but even then the film is very rarely scary.

The film is long for the genre coming in slightly over 2 hours. This can be a risk because if your film isn't good then it can feel extremely long and tedious to watch. Luckily 'Things Heard & Seen' is strong enough to justify it and what's more the extra length let's the story develop at a more natural pace. The film isn't afraid to get very dark at times either. There is one particularly brutal scene near the end that I wasn't expecting (even though it was cleverly foreshadowed).

If you like a ghost story then there is probably enough of that going on here to keep you interested. If you don't like ghost stories then don't be too put off by that being present here. There's more than enough other stuff going on that you can pretty much just ignore that element and enjoy the rest like I did. I had a good time with 'Things Heard & Seen' and would say it is worth your time.

What happened?

[viclouiserogers · 2/10 · 1 May 2021]

I read the book in anticipation of the movie adaptation and was excited when I heard that the end had been changed for the movie. Little did I know that the book ending was actually the better of the two!

What was the point of Willis, she has a purpose in the book but just floats around in the movie.

Main guy was awful. Also the ghost effects and apperitions were like a 90's low budget tv movie. Laughable.

Come on netflix, this is a new low. Amanda Seyfried is the only redeming feature.

Netflix - the new straight to video section

[aduncan-64902 · 1/10 · 29 April 2021]

Lame

Most of the Netflix original movies would be in the 99c bin if it weren't picked up by Netflix

I hate that that is what Netflix has mostly become.

Wish i had not seen or heard

[mines-costa · 3/10 · 2 May 2021]

This movie doesnt know what genre, plot or story its trying to tell. The characters are all horribly written and you will not care for any of them. The storyline is a mess and the ending feels like they just wanted to wrap up filming. To avoid.

Could've Been Better

[atractiveeyes · 6/10 · 2 May 2021]

This is a good horror/mystery movie but it could've been much better. It has a beautiful gothic atmosphere but it's not scary at all so if you're expecting a creepy horror film just skip it, it's does great with respect to the mystery part though. The story is really interesting, provoking and has a great implied message but the movie fails in portraying it, the screenplay has holes and feels weak sometimes. It's also unnecessarily long and boring at certain moments. Things Heard & Seen is neither great nor bad, give it a try if you like this genre and forget about it the next day.

What can I say, I thought it was pretty good!

[agilley-40974 · 8/10 · 30 April 2021]

I thought this was a very solid movie, much better than most that I've seen pop up on Netflix lately. I don't see where all of the low or negative reviews are coming from at all. Give it a chance. The acting was very good all around, and I felt like it had a bit of a different direction than other paranormal type films. Everyone saying this movie builds slowly and leads to nothing... yeah, I disagree. I think most people just don't have much of an attention span these days, (sometimes myself included), and it's easy to check out of something quickly. But I felt like there were no loose ends in this film, and everything concluded well for me. It held my attention the entire time. I will say that if you are looking for a horror movie, this probably isn't it. More of a drama/suspense, but very well executed. If you're into true crime, I think you'll find it interesting. Overall, definitely not a waste of a movie night in my opinion.

The worst thing about this movie are the reviews

[casonfriseal · 7/10 · 19 May 2021]

This is a far from perfect film, but the bulk of the reviews are a laughable commentary on the shallowness of the American film viewing culture. Pretty much everything said in criticism of the film is what gives it it's strength in my opinion. I'm not going to write eight paragraphs trying to convince anyone how good or bad the film is; I'll leave that to the experts. But I will say, if you're wanting a horror film, or a film that satisfies on a visceral level, or a film that "makes sense" so you don't have to think too much, by all means, move on to something else, But if you are in the mood for a well-acted, literary, poetic rendering of a classic morality tale seen through the lens of Victorian spiritualism and Swedenborg's mysticism, watch and enjoy.

Felt absolutely robbed by this movie!!

[ianliddle · 3/10 · 1 May 2021]

So much potential but what a disappointment!! The movie actually had myself and my wife fairly engrossed and trying to predict what happens a next. We never would have predicted the ending!! Good grief. Reasonable enough build up but my god did we feel robbed at the end!!! Could have used all that time so much better!! Sorry Netflix. Not good!!

Interesting plot...

[Thanos_Alfie · 6/10 · 3 December 2021]

"Things Heard & Seen" is a Mystery - Horror movie in which we follow a couple with their daughter relocating to Hudson Valley and start observing some strange things. A lot of unexplained things occurring and they have to do something about it before it's too late.

I found this movie interesting since it had plenty of mystery behind its plot and the plot twists that were contained in it were very unpredictable and made the movie even more interesting. The direction which was made by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini was very good and they succeeded on creating the feelings of both mystery and fear, something that made us relate to their main characters. The interpretations of Amanda Seyfried who played as Catherine Claire, James Norton who played as George Claire and F. Murray Abraham who played as Floyd DeBeers were very good and their combination worked very well. Lastly, I have to say that "Things Heard & Seen" is a nice movie and I recommend you to watch it because I am sure you will enjoy it, too.

Could have been much better...

[Un78657 · 5/10 · 1 May 2021]

Some parts are very good and thrilling but then it turns into nowhere ! Good actors - bad script

Finally watchable if you ignore the very bad ending ! Makes no sense to me - sorry.

An Interesting Take

[gregodemi · 7/10 · 29 April 2021]

Beautiful cinematography, good acting and interesting storyline. The movie may seem long drawn, but it is because it's layered. The story is gripping, and the actors have all done a wonderful job to keep the audience submersed.

After reading the reviews I anticipated a bad film, but I was pleasantly surprised. I would definitely recommend watching this film, just keep an open mind.

Great promise, poor execution

[shortmiddle · 3/10 · 2 May 2021]

The idea is great.

The plot is great.

The writing is awful. So much unnecessary garbage, and it tries so hard to be multiple things that it fails miserably. Is it a supernatural movie? No...not really. Is it a thriller? No...not really. Is it the classic gaslighting movie? No...not really. It tries all these things and does none well.

The ending deserves its own shame. It's a perfect example of not knowing how to end something.

Seyfried is fantastic despite the poor writing.

Cliche after cliche after cliche...

[spinoff75 · 3/10 · 2 May 2021]

Best selling novel? Really? Is a collection of cliches: haunted house, ghost presence with titling lights and radio interference, spiritism session, house's old survivor residents of a tragedy coming back secretly, cheating marriage, husband dark secret. . . MEH!

A very earnest and strong film that could've been a new masterpiece

[thatjennings · 7/10 · 30 April 2021]

I think the best thing I can say about this movie is that it's earnest. The cast gives great, believable performances all around and there isn't a weak link among them. Norton as George Claire is great as a character you'll love to hate. Seyfried isn't given as much to do as you may like but she sells her scenes very capably. Apart from the actors, the movie is often quite nice to look at as well, with plenty of high shots to soak in the beautiful landscape and set the scene.

I'm trying to puzzle the very mediocre reviews the movie received and I can only imagine it's due to the overall lack of scares and somewhat busy plot. If you're expecting a film with 1/3 story, 1/3 action and 1/3 jump scares, you're going to be very disappointed. The scares are few and far between. Similar to The Haunting of Hill House, this movie is equal parts about haunted people as it is about an actual haunting. The character drama is fairly strong, with believable motivations and distress.

However, the film's one major flaw that I can agree with others on is the uneven nature of its many plot points. There's a lot going on in the movie's run time. It balances all the plot points in a watchable fashion, but it does throw off the pacing sometimes because you, as the audience, can't quite get a hold on which plots are really gonna pay off and which are just feeding the larger narrative. It's kind of hard to explain, but this probably would've worked better as a limited series than a two hour movie.

All in all, Things Heard and Seen is eminently watchable and a far better movie than the 5.3 you're seeing at the time of this review's writing would lead you to believe. Just don't put it on hoping for lots of jump scares or spooky nuns jumping out of closets, it's not that kind of movie.

The most beautiful thing about this movie is the Peugeot 504

[alco_brand · 3/10 · 3 May 2021]

The most beautiful thing about this movie is the Peugeot 504. I have nothing less or more to tell. I give it a 3 star review because it kept me suspended and ended up in shait.

What the heck did I just watch?

[tishc-77030 · 2/10 · 1 May 2021]

Started off good but ended up being 2hours of my life I will never get back.

Not Bad

[pdbodyshop · 6/10 · 1 May 2021]

Acting fairly good. Script really not that bad.....but for the ending. Ugh.