The 2021 psychological horror film The Night House packs a punch when addressing depression head-on, as it represents the film's antagonist. The story follows a widow named Beth (Rebecca Hall) grieving the loss of her husband, who committed suicide after showing no outward signs to her that he was depressed. Throughout the film, viewers learn of Beth's relationship with depression and death and that her husband actually consistently tried convincing her life was worth living.
Although most of The Night House created suspense behind Beth's husband's behavior, the ending revealed that the victim of the movie was actually her husband, Owen. He got painted as the antagonist for most of the film, especially when his heinous crimes came to light. Owen was even portrayed as a murderer and a creep by Beth's discoveries until the true villain unveiled himself to her and the audience, proving that Owen was simply a pawn in this antagonist's evil plans.
The Night House could arguably be considered a twisted love story between Beth and a supernatural entity called Nothing. Years ago, Beth had died in a car accident for four minutes, and when she got brought back to life, she believed she saw nothing of the afterlife. She claimed there was no light at the end of the tunnel because there was only the tunnel. Beth had shared this information with Owen, but he insisted she was wrong and that there had to be more to life.
During Beth's initial revelation, she confirmed the existence of Nothing. No matter the arguments she and Owen had over the afterlife, Beth had created that connection with the entity, and the entity wanted her back. Nothing was so desperate in their desire to capture Beth back into nothingness that it had attached itself to Owen to convince him to kill Beth and reunite them in the afterlife. Owen tried to trick Nothing by bringing sacrifices who had looked similar to Beth and strangling them, but the entity was never truly tricked. Owen even left a trail behind of bodies, which Beth had slowly uncovered throughout The Night House.
Even after all his failings, Owen had one last hope to sever the connection between Beth and Nothing by taking his own life. Unfortunately, it didn't work, and Nothing continued living on and haunting Beth. Nothing also seemed to represent depression, always lurking in the shadows and convincing people life isn't worth living. At the end of the day, Owen's actions were all caused by Nothing's possession of him, and many innocent women got sacrificed by Owen's hand. Owen had even left his wife a note with a huge hint, informing her that she had been right all along and that Nothing did, in fact, exist.
Thankfully, Beth got saved at the end by her friend Claire, who went to check on her just as Nothing took hold. But while Nothing haunted Beth throughout most of her adult life, Owen ultimately paid the price for her connection with the entity and her insistence on its existence. It was always up to Beth to sever ties with the darkness, but she felt the need to keep that connection alive, making her husband the actual victim of the film.
