So, you’ve probably seen the thumbnail on Netflix. Amanda Seyfried looks terrified, the lighting is moody, and there’s an old farmhouse that screams "bad real estate investment." But honestly, Things Heard and Seen isn't your typical jump-scare fest. It’s weird. It’s a period piece set in 1980. And it’s basically a movie about how your husband might actually be a bigger nightmare than the ghost living in your guest room.
The Things Heard and Seen full movie experience is a slow burn that tries to juggle art history, 18th-century philosophy, and a grisly murder mystery. If you watched it and felt like the ending came out of a fever dream, you aren't alone. It’s a lot to process.
The Actual Story (Without the Fluff)
The plot follows Catherine and George Claire. George, played by a very punchable James Norton, gets a teaching gig at a small college in "Chosen," New York. They move from Manhattan to a farmhouse that, surprise, has a body count.
Catherine starts seeing things. She smells exhaust fumes in the garage. She finds a ring that definitely belonged to a dead woman. George, being a classic 1980s gaslighter, tells her she’s basically losing it. But the house is haunted. Specifically, it’s haunted by the spirits of women who were mistreated by the men who lived there before. It’s a cycle.
Why Swedenborg Matters
You might’ve missed the name Emanuel Swedenborg if you weren't paying close attention. He was a real-life Swedish theologian who believed that the spiritual world and the natural world are constantly overlapping.
In the film, F. Murray Abraham’s character (Floyd DeBeers) is obsessed with this guy. Swedenborg’s ideas are the "why" behind the ghosts. He argued that we attract spirits that match our own internal state. So, Catherine attracts a protective female spirit because she’s a good person being abused. George? He attracts the "evil" spirits of the men who did the killing.
That Wild Ending Explained
Let’s talk about the final 20 minutes because they’re polarizing. Most people expect a horror movie to end with an exorcism or a final girl running into the woods. Instead, we get a boat.
George kills Catherine with an axe. It’s brutal and sudden. He tries to frame it as a break-in, but his colleague Justine (the incredible Rhea Seehorn) wakes up from her coma and remembers everything. George knows he's caught. He gets on his boat, The Lost Horizon, and sails into a literal painting.
The sky turns a terrifying shade of orange, mimicking George Inness’s painting The Valley of the Shadow of Death. An upside-down cross appears in the clouds. George isn't just dying; he’s being pulled into a Swedenborgian hell. The movie is basically saying that even if human justice fails, the spiritual world will collect its debt.
Real-Life Inspiration: The Brighton Axe Murder
Did you know the Things Heard and Seen full movie is loosely based on a true crime? The source novel, All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage, was inspired by the 1982 murder of Cathleen Krauseneck.
- The Case: Cathleen was found dead in her bed with an axe in her head.
- The Husband: Her husband, Jim Krauseneck, claimed he found her after work.
- The Twist: For decades, the case went cold. Jim wasn't actually convicted until 2022—long after the book and movie were released.
Brundage used the "bones" of this story to explore the isolation of being a housewife in the 80s. It’s a heavy layer that makes the film feel a bit more grounded, despite the floating ghosts and glowing crosses.
Why Critics Kinda Hated It (And Why You Might Not)
The movie currently sits with a pretty "meh" score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics felt it was muddled. It wants to be a feminist manifesto, a ghost story, and a true-crime thriller all at once. Sometimes it works; sometimes it feels like a Lifetime movie with a massive budget.
But if you like the Hudson River School of art or you’re into the vibes of the Hudson Valley, it’s gorgeous to look at. They filmed on location in places like Millerton and Red Hook, NY. The farmhouse itself (on Skunks Misery Road) is a real 19th-century home. It feels authentic.
What to Watch or Read Next
If you finished the film and wanted more (or wanted something better), here’s what you should actually do:
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- Read the Book: Elizabeth Brundage’s All Things Cease to Appear is way darker. It spends much more time on the town’s history and the aftermath of the murder.
- Watch "What Lies Beneath": If you liked the "husband with a secret" trope, this Harrison Ford/Michelle Pfeiffer flick does it with more tension.
- Visit the Hudson River School: Check out the paintings of George Inness or Thomas Cole. The film uses these landscapes as a visual language for the afterlife.
Things Heard and Seen is a weird experiment. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a fascinating look at how we haunt ourselves before we ever become ghosts. If you're going to watch it, watch it for Amanda Seyfried’s performance—she carries the whole thing on her back. Just don't expect a happy ending. Evil, as the movie suggests, eventually gets what's coming, but it takes its sweet time getting there.