Netflix's The Fall Of The House Of Usher Asks: 'What If Succession Was A Horror Story?'
This post contains spoilers for "The Fall of the House of Usher."
Mike Flanagan's latest horror mini-series, "The Fall of the House of Usher," transposes the stories of Edgar Allan Poe to the 21st century. In this retelling, "The House of Usher" is a nouveau riche dynasty and the owners of a pharmaceutical corporation, Fortunato. Twin siblings Roderick (Bruce Greenwood) and Madeline (Mary McDonnell) sit at the head of that table, with other seats filled by Roderick's spoiled adult children — six of them, from five different mothers, who all stand to inherit a piece of his fortune. Comparisons to the recently concluded "Succession" have already begun.
Like the Roy family in "Succession," the Ushers have made their fortune by poisoning society. The Roys, as the owners of media conglomerate Waystar Royco, reshaped the mind of the American consumer with far-right political propaganda. Their "news" network, ATN, is Fox in all but name. The Ushers have fueled the opioid epidemic with their addictive painkiller Ligadone (read: OxyContin). In the finale, Roderick sees a vision of bodies falling to the ground like rain and piling up, a mountain representing his life's work.
Both shows explore the rot of the American ruling class, but while "Succession" is about the Murdochs (owners of News Corp), "House of Usher" targets the Sacklers (of Purdue Pharma). "Succession" is also a black comedy, one that encourages you to both laugh and be aghast at how petty the powerful can be. "House of Usher," in the tradition of Poe, is a horror tale. Unlike Flanagan's previous work, though, you'll probably be rooting for the ghost to get its pound of flesh this time.
A peek inside the ruling class
"Succession," true to its title, is basically a modern-day "King Lear" — the story of an aged and mercurial tyrant who is set to step down while his children squabble for their birthright. "The Fall of the House of Usher" does something a bit different. Only eldest son Frederick Usher (Henry Thomas) is actually eyeing to succeed his father as Fortunato's CEO. The others are all trying to carve out their own mark on the world. Tamerlane (Samantha Sloyan) is the founder of a fitness brand. Victorine (T'Nia Miller) is developing a new type of pacemaker. Napoleon (Rahul Kohli) owns a video game development company. Camille (Kate Siegel) runs Fortunato's PR department. Prospero (Sauriyan Sapkota) is an aspiring nightclub mogul.
Episodes 2-7 each focus on one of the Usher siblings, mirroring the structure of Flanagan's previous family horror-drama for Netflix, "The Haunting of Hill House." In the time we spend with them, we realize how deep in their father's shadow they are. Each project is funded by Roderick at his own behest; he wants his children following in his footsteps to "change the world," and they do so in the hope of winning his approval. As in "Succession," none of the children can truly measure up to their father because they were raised only to be extensions of his will.
The baby boomer generation holding onto power past their prime is a timely theme. The consequences of that become apparent in the finale when we see the deal with the devil that Roderick and Madeline made; the ghostly Verna (Carla Gugino) tells them that "the next generation will foot the bill" for their wealth. Rich parents will happily let their children drown to hold onto their own ill-gotten comfort.
In "The Fall of the House of Usher," though, no one is immune from the debt coming due.
Consequences
Horror reflects what are we collectively scared of. In 2023, one such fear is that evil will continue to go unpunished. Brazenly corrupt politicians retain power, while both the Sacklers and Murdochs are as rich as ever despite public scorn.
The series begins with the Ushers on trial, prosecuted by C. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly) for Fortunato's role in the opioid epidemic. The trial doesn't go anywhere — because Verna kills the family one by one until the Usher bloodline is wiped out. Public justice is an impossibility for billionaires, so it takes the supernatural to make them pay.
Episode 6 goes further, when Arthur Pym (Mark Hamill) discovers pictures of Verna alongside each American dynasty: the Kochs, the Gettys, the Bushes, the Rockefellers, the Hearsts, the Vanderbilts — and that just scratches the century-long surface. The implication is that each of her "clients" made the same deal: power to be repaid with later suffering. The comeuppance part is a tempting fantasy, one we see play out with the Ushers.
None of the Ushers truly created anything. Napoleon styles himself as a gaming god, but didn't contribute technically or creatively to any of his video games. Victorine's attempt at inventing a revolutionary heart device fails. Even Roderick himself didn't invent Ligadone; he just sold it. Roderick tells himself that he did indeed "change the world" in his final moments, but the Usher legacy is totally dead at the series' end.
In "Succession," though, the status quo is never uprooted. The prosecution of Waystar Royco fizzles out in season 3, ATN helps elect a fascist as U.S. President, and the series ends with Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) as the new boss, the same as the old boss. "Succession" may not be a horror story, but it sure can be scary.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is streaming on Netflix. "Succession" is streaming on Max.