Patrick’s regulars, but his old friend Erin ( Kate Siegel) has some more questions about the purpose of faith given her dark past.
Riley’s parents Annie ( Kristin Lehman) and Ed ( Henry Thomas) are St. While Riley and Paul are the center of “Midnight Mass,” Flanagan fills out the community with memorable characters, most of whom have suffered the kind of loss that brings them to a church for guidance, including grief that pushes them to seek a higher purpose in the world. The sinner and the savior coming to Crockett Island at the same time feels like fate. In a very “The Haunting of Hill House” manner, Riley is even directly haunted by his victim, amplifying his need for some kind of redemption. Coinciding with Father Paul’s arrival is the return of the island’s prodigal son, Riley ( Zach Gilford), who has been in prison for four years after a drunk driving accident that killed a woman. Patrick’s, which is newly led by a young charmer named Father Paul (a truly fantastic Hamish Linklater, whose work here almost justifies a look on its own), a charismatic leader who has been sent to replace a man named Monsignor Pruitt. Actually, most of it takes place in the decrepit church, St. The vast majority of “Midnight Mass” takes place on a rundown island fishing community called Crockett Island. Some of Flanagan’s most ambitious elements here play with the idea that The Bible truly is a horror story, while also weaving very King-like themes into the fabric, primarily the conflict between human responsibility and the thinking that belief can wash away all sin. After all, horror and religion have a lot in common, often serving up similar themes of morality and vanquishing of evil, only in different cloth. Flanagan is playing with the darker side of religious scripture, connecting things like resurrection and drinking blood to a different kind of mythology. Again like a lot of sermons of my youth, “Midnight Mass” is abundant with connected themes and overt symbolism.