“The former, the latter. For us now and for those who are beyond. Seen or unseen, here but not here. In Netflix’s “The Midnight Club” goes the opening axiom of every story told by the patients of Brightcliff Manor in the fireplace of the dimly lit library of converted hospice.
Produced and executive produced by Mike Flanagan, who counts the YA horror sci-fi series as his fourth in streamer, the show puts the majority of the ensemble cast first in their acting repertoire. For its main cast, the “pressure” to reach Flanagan’s fanbase (from “The Haunting of Hill House” to “The Haunting of Belly Manor” and “Midnight Mass”) was real, but it’s one they handled together and In Stride, not unlike the crew of the same name they portray in the pulsating show.
Adapted from the creative work of the same name by Christopher Pike, “The Midnight Club” follows a group of eight sick young adults in a hospice of mysterious origins. While there, they bond over ghost stories and alcohol and – most of all – try to live in spite of their death sentence.
“We talked a lot about this as a group, that when they come to the midnight club, it’s a way for them to say all the things they want to say — a kind of therapy — and make it a To do it in a way where they don’t have to do it all,” Annara Simone, who plays devout Sandra, told TheWrap. “They can tell it through the story in this fictionalized way.”
Despite the show’s many attempts at the paranormal, its foundation is laid on mature themes, including mental health, sexuality, and the AIDS epidemic.
“Every character, it’s this internal turmoil or this internal conflict that they have that directly translates into their story in some way or form,” said Iman Benson, who plays Ilonka, a newcomer to Brightcliffe. Hall who is expecting a miracle in his restlessness
As the narrative winds through each character’s backstories in allegorical retellings based on other Pike novels, references to classic film genres (which is Flanagan’s way), as do some familiar faces within the Flanagan universe (Rahul Kohli is a guest). turn, for example, and the leads Igby Rigne and Simone were in “Midnight Mass”). While the massive 10-episode show uses these small worlds as its frame of reference for its personality, it also takes care to uncover wider events at Brightcliffe, past and present.
Aya Furukawa, who plays the introspective Natsuki, said, “Most of us, especially being new to these kinds of roles and positions and stuff, had a great sense of pressure, especially being such a big follower of Mike. Because of this.” “And there’s a lot of expectations, there was always a little pressure to do well and it was always a big challenge that I think a lot of us were dealing with, but, despite that, because we were all in this together “We are all feeling the same feelings in that regard, it made us bond and become really close and find comfort in each other for keeping each other going.”
Chris Sumpter – who portrays Vivid Spence, a patient with AIDS who has a close friendship with nurse practitioner Mark (Zach Guilford) – said he felt the weight of that responsibility, especially when dealing with such overwhelming subjects.
“I just remember waking up at 4 a.m., like, yelling at the beach with all of us,” he recalled. “And we’re like, ‘Ah!’ And then you get home and you’re like, ‘Ah, wow,’ like, ‘How do I take this off?’ You’re not like Elmo at Disney — you can’t just take your head off and then get on with your day. That’s you and all the emotions are still there, and you’ve tapped into them.”
He continued, “I think a great way for me to balance that is simply by bonding with the cast and knocking on Igby’s door at 3 a.m. and waking him up and saying ‘Man, we need a bottle opener.’ Things like this definitely helped me come back to myself.
Furukawa said, “For the show in general, it’s a roller coaster of emotions. There are a lot of louder, more humorous aspects to things, and I think a big challenge is being able to bring the truth and authenticity of what we’re working on as our characters, but on top of that, bring lightness and humor to the story. Also per community and friendship. Just always keeping this in mind, make sure it’s like a wave of things that we’re experiencing. ,
In a way, the balance between light and dark is achieved through the cast’s behind-the-scenes experiences – eliciting deeper feelings with on-set connections (and sometimes, shenanigans).
Adia – who portrays Privileged Cherry in her first acting credits – said it was practically difficult to shoot out of sequence. “If we’re doing retake after retake, you have to be in that spirit,” she explained. “The makeup was coming on to make up for the tears we had on our faces because” [of] Continuity – it was really hard for me and trying to match my feelings so that they were cohesive.”
Saurian Sapkota, who plays the healthy and video game junkie Amesh, supported that sentiment, pointing to a nighttime shootout between his character and Furukawa during Episode 5, where the crew were quickly exposed to the rising Canadian sun. eagerly ran against. As for Simone, every scene he shared with Ruth Codd’s Anya, Brightcliff’s resident thinly veiled softie, resulted in a crack in one of them.
“The day I was crawling across the table, in the first episode, the look that Ruth gives me is like I’m staring at her — I think I broke down and started crying and Mike [Flanagan] Came over and he said ‘What’s wrong with you?’ As it was, he joked.
That camaraderie is something the cast hopes viewers will take away from the show: “I hope people can watch, especially watching Natsuki, to talk, to express what’s going on. ‘How important it is to build a community that you can lean on, a strong network to come back to,’ Furukawa said.
For Aadiya, the takeaway is about allowing people to “be young.”
“I think a lot of times, especially at the end of our age — we’re all kind of on the verge of adulthood, but we’re still kids — we don’t have to figure it all out,” she said. “You don’t have to figure everything out. You can still be a kid, and you can still live life, so even if you have adult-like situations you’re dealing with, you can still be young.” and can have fun and tell ghost stories.
“The Midnight Club” is now streaming on Netflix.
