Things Heard and Seen Ending Explained, Plot, Review, and More
by Ushapriyanga
Updated May 04, 2023
Things Heard And Seen Info
Things Heard & Seen is a horror film released on April 29, 2021, on Netflix. It was written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, based on Elizabeth Brundage's novel "All Things Cease to Appear." The movie features Amanda Seyfried and James Norton in lead roles. However, it received mostly negative reviews from critics.
The film prominently displays several landscape paintings from the Hudson River School. Production began in October 2019, in Hudson Valley, New York, with a cast that included James Norton, Natalia Dyer, Rhea Seehorn, Alex Neustaedter, and F. Murray Abraham. Netflix distributed the film.
Things Heard and Seen Ending Explained
In the story, it is disclosed that Ella's husband went insane one day and committed a murder-suicide by shooting all their cows and killing both himself and his wife. Ella's spirit became trapped in the house afterward, stuck in a state of purgatory between life and death.
It appears that Ella has a duty to safeguard Catherine, whose marital circumstances and eventual death closely parallel hers. The women in the household seem to be cursed with gruesome endings to their lives. The first wife, who was also presumably murdered by her husband in the 1800s, was there for Ella when her own husband killed her.
In the movie, Ella seems to repay the favor by protecting Catherine, watching over her from the moment George reveals his dark side. The women are physically linked through an old ring that was unintentionally passed down to each of them, but their connection extends beyond the physical. The ring represents a tragic destiny that has been passed down for generations of wives in the old New York farmhouse.
Their unfortunate situations in life, particularly the victimization they face in their marriages, bind them together. The movie portrays these women as genuinely good people, who are sensitive and deeply emotional individuals, and are not treated with the respect they deserve, let alone valued for the richness of their souls.
Things Heard and Seen Movie Netflix
Things Heard & Seen is a horror movie released in 2021 with a maturity rating of U/A 16+. The film runs for 2 hours and 1 minute. It revolves around a young woman who moves with her husband from Manhattan to a small town, only to discover that both her spouse and their new home are hiding sinister secrets. The movie stars Amanda Seyfried, James Norton, and Natalia Dyer.
According to the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Things Heard & Seen has received an approval rating of 39% from 87 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The consensus among critics on the website is that the movie's scares are overshadowed by an uninteresting and unoriginal adaptation that fails to capture the haunting essence of its source material. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 24 reviews, suggesting that the reviews are mixed or average.
Things Heard and Seen Cast
Amanda Seyfried
Catherine Claire
James Norton
George Claire
Ana Sophia Heger
Franny Claire
Natalia Dyer
Willis Howell
Alex Neustaedter
Eddie Vayle
Rhea Seehorn
Justine Sokolov
Michael O'Keefe
Travis Laughton
Karen Allen
Mare Laughton
Jack Gore
Cole Vayle
F. Murray Abraham
Floyd DeBeers
James Urbaniak
Bram Sokolov
Emily Dorsch
Ella Vayle
Casts
Characters
Things Heard and Seen Plot
The 1980-set movie Things Heard & Seen follows Catherine, an art restorer who moves with her husband George and daughter Franny to a large farmhouse in upstate New York after George lands a job teaching art history at a college. Catherine feels isolated in the house and discovers an old Bible with a family tree of the previous owners, the Smits, which has some of the names scratched out and marked as "Damned."
She senses a spirit and finds an antique ring that she starts wearing, while Franny sees a female spirit in her room. Catherine hires handyman and babysitter brothers Eddie and Cole Lucks, and George begins an affair with Eddie's cousin Willis.
Catherine befriends George's colleague Justine Sokolov, and Floyd DeBeers, the head of the art history department, feels a benevolent spirit's presence in the house, leading to a séance.
George and Catherine throw a party, where Catherine learns that the previous owners, Eddie and Cole's parents, died in a murder-suicide, and the ring belonged to their mother Ella. As they argue about the house's violent history, a radio begins playing and only stops when George smashes it. Catherine asks George to take Franny away.
While George is gone, Catherine holds a séance with Floyd and summons the ghost of Ella, who warns her to be careful of another spirit in the house. Catherine discovers George's affair and that he has lied about his paintings and academic credentials. She starts an affair with Eddie, and George's attempts to cover up his lies lead to a confrontation with Floyd and a car accident that puts Justine in a coma.
Catherine learns of Floyd's death and Justine's accident, while George drugs and murders her with an axe. He tries to cover up his crime but is ultimately exposed, and Catherine's soul joins forces with Ella's to reveal George's guilt to Justine and the police. George attempts to escape on a boat, but a storm sinks it in flames, with a painting seen earlier indicating his damnation.
Where to Watch Things Heard and Seen?
Things Heard & Seen follows Catherine Clare as she reluctantly moves from Manhattan to a remote home in Chosen, New York, with her husband George and daughter Franny, after George gets a teaching job in a small college in Hudson Valley.
As Catherine tries to make the old dairy farm a comfortable place for her family, she starts feeling isolated and discovers a dark presence in the house and in her relationship with George. The movie is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
Things Heard and Seen Review
Things Heard & Seen is a film that blends Gothic horror and a portrait of a failing marriage. While the latter is more effective, the movie does a clever job of bringing the two together in the end. The writing and directing duo of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, known for their work on "American Splendor" and "The Nanny Diaries," deliver a low-key vibe in this adaptation of Elizabeth Brundage's novel "All Things Cease to Appear," which features a talented cast of actors.
The horror film Things Heard & Seen received mixed reviews from critics. While Russ Simmons from KKFI appreciated the eerie atmosphere created by the filmmakers, he felt the movie went off the rails in the finale. According to Albert Nowicki of His Name is Death, the film's strength lies in portraying a doomed relationship, putting a toxic marriage under the microscope.
However, he also believed that it lacked the captivating factor of a horror film and was too similar to Robert Zemeckis' "What Lies Beneath" (2000). Noel Murray from The Los Angeles Times wrote that although the cast was great, the film failed to connect on a visceral level despite its vivid milieu, polished images, and effectively moody atmosphere.
Johnny Oleksinski from The New York Post had a mildly positive view, calling it an adequate haunted-house film with a spooky atmosphere and a slow boil. Jocelyn Noveck from Associated Press found the movie well-cast and entertaining but also campy and sometimes obvious.
Despite some uneven material, the film's talented cast and clever twists make it worth watching.
Things Heard and Seen Trailer
Things Heard and Seen Ending Explained - FAQs
Things Heard & Seen is a movie about a couple, Catherine and George, who move from Manhattan to a remote town in upstate New York. Catherine begins to sense a sinister darkness in both the walls of their old dairy farm and in her marriage to George.
Yes, Things Heard & Seen is partly a Gothic horror movie, with a creaky, old house with a dark past where things go bump in the night.
Things Heard & Seen was directed by the husband-and-wife duo of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini.
Things Heard & Seen stars Amanda Seyfried as Catherine, James Norton as George, and a fantastic cast of actors, including Karen Allen and F. Murray Abraham.