This review may contain spoilers. 

Netflix’s new film Things Heard and Seen features Catherine Claire, played by Amanda Seyfried, as an artist stuck in a marriage with George Claire, played by James Norton. The couple seems to be a picture-perfect family: Catherine and George attended college and have a daughter. Yet, their faulty marriage has led Catherine to a devastating eating disorder.

This couple keeps many secrets. However, as a supporting wife, Catherine and George move to Hudson Valley to encourage his passion as an art history professor. While moving to an enormous house in the middle of nowhere seems like a good idea, there is more to this house than meets the eye: they are not alone. 

The ghostly occurrences happen on the very first night of the move. As the film progresses, the reasoning behind creaks at night becomes clear. However, no matter how the story plays out, the ghosts in this film aren’t the only things the audience should be on the lookout for. 

George’s snarky, intolerance towards his wife’s condition and emotional distress is infuriating. Furthermore, Catherine’s decision to surrender her art-restoring career and abandon her life is heartbreaking. 

These scenes depicting eating disorders may be triggering for some viewers. The torture she is put through by George is very apparent, and the aftermath is shocking. Yet, everything happens for a reason. 

Things Heard & Seen is based on Elizabeth Brundage’s novel All Things Cease to Appear, written in 2016. Just like the book, the film’s answers lie in the details. 

After the title sequence, the screen reveals an old Emanuel Swedenborg quote: “Things that are in heaven are more real than things that are in the world.” Like the opening scene, viewers are given blood-chilling pieces as the film progresses for the ultimate puzzle in the end. 

The film is set in Dutchess County and the cinematography is very appealing in each scene. Apart from the locations, the lighting for the scenes is crisp and clear. 

Seyfried and Norton’s performances are uncanny, and the effects in the film are jarring. While it is not a traditional horror film, this drama/horror film plays on other elements that leave viewers with a twisted stomach ache.   

Even though this film focuses on a chaotic, unsettling relationship between a wife and husband, it is ironic that the film’s writer and director is also husband and wife, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. 

If suspense and thrills are what viewers are looking for, then Things Heard & Seen is the film to watch. This film leaves audiences at the edge of their seat and just when you thought it was over, it will play with your mind. This film is worthy of screams and scares. 

Things Heard & Seen is available now on Netflix.