#Flawless real talk series#
(In real life, Pike wrote the original series for a group of kids who had made their own club in a cancer ward, discussing Pike's books at midnight.) They meet by the roaring fire in the library every night at midnight with stolen bottles of wine as the titular Midnight Club, ritualistically swapping stories that parallel and exaggerate fears, dreams, and lived experiences in a detached, imaginatively guarded way - the group refer to this as "making ghosts". Within the dark halls of Brightcliffe, in the safety of the library, the members of the Midnight Club learn more and more about each other through the power of storytelling. Spencer (Chris Sumpter), Ilonka (Iman Benson), and Amesh (Sauriyan Sapkota). We wanted to make sure that no matter what, we were always respecting and honoring the people who have lived the stories that we're trying to tell here." We worked and consulted with hospice care nurses and doctors.
"We also worked very closely with GLAAD for Spence’s AIDS storyline, and with RespectAbility for Anya and Amesh’s storylines. "The show has a responsibility to people who have dealt with this kind of loss, or are dealing with this kind of illness," Flanagan said in a press statement. The production team knew how sensitive it would be to represent circumstances that audiences might be experiencing themselves, and how much care they needed to take.
While they show love, concern, and care, the Midnight Club members actively don't pity each other and acknowledge the social stigma against some of their illnesses over others, namely Spencer's AIDS diagnosis. The series allows the characters to manage their individual illnesses on their own terms, using their abilities and connections to help tick off bucket list items or feel more aesthetically like themselves - a scene involving Cheri procuring something for Ilonka in episode 5 is particularly moving. T'Nia Miller and the 'Haunting of Bly Manor' cast test their horror knowledge Ilonka, an 18-year-old whose Stanford dreams give way to her thyroid cancer treatment, is the show's complex protagonist, and Benson portrays her with mindful frankness, believable determination, fierce love for her friends, and a naturally investigative nature - especially when she starts seeing ghostly figures and finds weird symbols around the place.įong and Flanagan's show centres the humanity of people living with different terminal illnesses, weaving scenes of practical treatment and side effects with nuanced, complicated backstories and present sources of tension beyond their diagnoses, while giving them space to implement whatever they need for comfort and a sense of identity. Credit: Eike Schroter / NetflixĬared for by head nurse Mark ( Midnight Mass alumni Zach Gilford), the residents all have different diagnoses and form a late-night Breakfast Club of personalities, backgrounds, and stories - Ilonka even makes reference to John Hughes' seminal high school film in episode 1. Yet, even while it brims with the writer-director's almost gleeful reliance on jump scares and slowly unveiling a complex mystery, with The Midnight Club, these deeper conversations are conveyed through a group of young people with terminal illnesses.
Flanagan has well established his penchant for wandering extremely haunted halls while exploring what happens after we die through his previous series. And The Midnight Club is no exception.Ĭontinuing the frightening but poignant examinations of death, spirituality, and trauma we've relished in The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass, Flanagan and Leah Fong examine the impermanence of life from a new perspective in their deeply moving adaptation of Christopher Pike's The Midnight Club. Having a frank conversation about mortality and the time we have left doesn't seem like obvious fodder for a Netflix horror series, but Mike Flanagan has long perfected reeling you into the deepest philosophical dialogue while scaring the crap out of you.
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