Guillermo Del Toro has written the source material on which the final Cabinet of Curiosities instalment is based. And it’s something of a Babadook reunion, the short story having been adapted by director Jennifer Kent, the resulting film starring Essie Davies, and it exploring similar themes.
Guillermo Del Toro has produced Netflix horror anthology Cabinet of Curiosities, and his fingerprints are all over this tale of a gothic house where things go bump in the night.
Though much like The Babadook, the story revolves around a woman who is dealing with trauma, and who might be losing her mind. But first, as ever, Del Toro kicks proceedings off with a speech to camera…
“Ancient belief tells us that birds carry our souls, our beliefs, our hopes up to the gods. they are the dark messengers, crisscrossing the twilight sky, forming ever-changing patterns called ‘murmurations.’ But that word also suggests a voice, a whisper, a prayer uttered in the dark when we think we have lost it all.”
What is Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities episode ‘The Murmuring’ about?
The year is 1951 and married couple Nancy (Davies) and Edgar (Andrew Lincoln) are professional bird-watchers studying the Dunlin, specifically how and why said bird flocks together, and form perfect patterns numbering thousands, and sometimes millions.
The pair are devoted to finding answers, so with cutting edge video and audio equipment, they head to the isolated Big Harbour Island, where the couple take residence in a huge house with – unbeknownst to them – a dark past.
They merrily spend their days observing and recording the Dunlin, though their time takes a strange turn when the birds start roosting in the attic.
Meanwhile the nights turn terrifying for Nancy, first hearing the voice of a child, then seeing the figure of said child. Soon her investigation into the history of the house turns into an obsession that threatens to wreck her marriage, or lead to something much worse.
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The horror beneath the horror
That’s the scary stuff on the surface of ‘The Murmuring’, but it’s what’s going on underneath that makes the film painful to watch. As we’re told early in proceedings that Nancy and Edgar have lost a child.
Throughout the episode, it becomes clear that this tragedy has drawn a wedge between them. And the more Edgar tries to build a bridge to fix it, the more Nancy pulls away.
It’s heart-breaking to watch, the anguish etched on the faces of both Davis and Lincoln as they fail to cope with the trauma of that loss, and the grief that has followed. Which is the true horror contained in this story.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities ‘The Murmuring’ score: 7/10
Meaning ‘The Murmuring’ is expertly played – with Jenifer Kent once again putting Essie Davis through the wringer – as well as being expertly crafted by the writer-director, who knows how to make a dark room or passageway look – and feel – terrifying.
Trouble is, there’s nothing particularly new, or fresh, or original here. It’s a chilling ghost story, but one that we’ve seen countless times before, and will doubtlessly see countless times again. So watch ‘The Murmuring’ for performances and atmosphere, just don’t expect to be surprised.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is streaming on Netflix.
