Why Mike Flanagan’s ‘Oculus’ Is Better Than ‘The Haunting of Hill House’

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Mike Flanagan’s Netflix series, The Haunting of Hill House, is incredibly popular and well-made, but his earlier film, Oculus from 2013, is arguably even better. Before he became known for his horror shows on the streaming platform, Flanagan directed several compelling movies. While many fans enjoy Hush, a 2016 thriller about a deaf writer terrorized at home, Oculus stands out as a particularly effective and unsettling story about siblings, an old house, and how unreliable memory can be.

Mike Flanagan’s upcoming projects largely center around the works of Stephen King. He’s currently finishing an adaptation of Carrie for Amazon Prime Video, expected in 2026, and is also developing The Dark Tower. Recently, he announced he’s working on a version of The Mist. Beyond adaptations, Flanagan has created impressive original content, like Oculus, which shares a similar style and intensity with The Haunting of Hill House.

Mike Flanagan’s Thriller Movie ‘Oculus’ Explores His Usual Subjects Like Family Trauma, Tragedy, and Memory


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Mike Flanagan’s work often explores themes of family, past trauma, and characters grappling with their memories and the challenges ahead. His film, Oculus, centers on the Russell siblings, Tim (Brenton Thwaites) and Kaylie (Karen Gillan), who are haunted by the tragic deaths of their parents, Alan (Rory Cochrane) and Marie (Katee Sackhoff), when they were children.

The movie explores how memory can be unreliable. Tim is convinced his father murdered their mother, but his sister, Kaylie, believes a haunted mirror called the Lasser Glass was responsible. Throughout the film, both siblings are plagued by disturbing nightmares, highlighting the lasting impact of their unresolved trauma.

The horror film Oculus features some truly frightening moments, and it’s a shame it hasn’t received more attention since its release. Director Mike Flanagan is known for jump scares in his popular Netflix horror series like The Haunting of Hill House and The Fall of the House of Usher. Oculus boasts striking visuals, including a creepy figure with glowing eyes. However, the most shocking scene involves Kaylie mistakenly biting into a lightbulb instead of an apple, resulting in a gruesome injury. Another standout moment occurs when Kaylie believes she’s killed her fiancé, Michael, only to receive a phone call from him, leaving you to question what’s real and whether any of it actually happened.

Why Mike Flanagan’s ‘Oculus’ Is More Powerful Than ‘The Haunting of Hill House’


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At first glance, the movie Oculus might appear to be a typical, cheesy haunted mirror story, but it’s actually a much deeper film. It thoughtfully explores themes of overcoming trauma and portrays the complexities of mental health with sensitivity. Ultimately, it’s a more impactful story than The Haunting of Hill House, largely due to its compelling portrayal of how two siblings cope with a shared traumatic experience.

As a huge fan of Mike Flanagan, I think The Haunting of Hill House is just phenomenal. What really struck me was how cleverly he wove together the past and present – seeing the Crain siblings as kids in that terrifying house, and then as adults grappling with the aftermath. It’s interesting because, even though they all go their separate ways, they ultimately confront and release their trauma together. The finale, where they finally start to let go of the guilt surrounding Nell’s death, felt earned because of everything they’d been through – and those realizations mirrored what happened back at Hill House itself. Honestly, that’s not a flaw at all! It’s exactly what makes Hill House so deeply moving and why it continues to be one of my favorite pieces from Flanagan’s work.

Tim and Kaylie respond to their parents’ death in very different ways. While Tim tries to cope through therapy, Kaylie seems to have buried her emotions and built a life for herself. However, the mysterious mirror forces her to confront her trauma directly, something Tim wants to avoid at all costs. The film Oculus examines these contrasting reactions to tragedy, highlighting how siblings can have completely opposite interpretations of the same events and people. Tim views their father negatively, while Kaylie believes he was unfairly judged.

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Watching the film Oculus reveals many of the same themes later explored in The Haunting of Hill House. Both stories feature old, unsettling houses, strained sibling relationships, and parents who fail to protect their children, alongside supernatural scares. While Hill House is known for its shocking twists – like the reveal of the Bent-Neck Lady – Oculus feels like a grittier, more grounded story about the lasting effects of family trauma. If you look past the haunted mirror and concentrate on the final scenes, it’s arguably even more disturbing than Hill House. The film portrays a deeply unsettling situation where Alan imprisons Marie, neglects his children, and allows their living conditions to deteriorate, while young Kaylie is forced to become her brother’s protector and caretaker.

The movie Oculus delves into the question of whether we can truly understand those closest to us, and emphasizes the importance of honesty and openness in relationships. When Kaylie admits she hasn’t shared much about her past, the film suggests that emotional connection is vital for a relationship to thrive. Like many of Flanagan’s films (such as the lengthy monologue about death in Midnight Mass), Oculus shows characters finding peace through emotional vulnerability. However, the film’s tragic ending highlights the difficulty of overcoming trauma, as Kaylie’s story proves it can sometimes be too late to heal.



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2026-02-22 02:05