The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher is an American gothic horror drama television miniseries created by Mike Flanagan. All eight episodes were released on Netflix on October 12, 2023, each directed by either Flanagan or Michael Fimognari, with the latter also acting as cinematographer for the entire series. Loosely based on various works by 19th century author Edgar Allan Poe (most prominently the eponymous 1840 short story), the series adapts otherwise unrelated stories and characters by Poe into a single nonlinear narrative set from 1953 to 2023. It recounts both the rise to power of Roderick Usher, the powerful CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company and his sister Madeline Usher, the genius COO of the pharmaceutical company, and the events leading to the deaths of all six of Roderick’s children. It stars an ensemble cast led by Carla Gugino as a mysterious woman plaguing the Ushers and Bruce Greenwood as an elderly Roderick. The first two episodes of The Fall of the House of Usher premiered at Fantastic Fest in September 2023 before the Netflix release the following month, being viewed more than 13 million times in its first two weeks. It was met with positive reviews, with critics praising its production values, directing, and performances (in particular from Gugino, Greenwood and Mark Hamill), although they were divided on its narrative, notably in relation to the source materials. Synopsis The story of The Fall of the House of Usher starts in 2023, right after Roderick Usher, the wealthy and powerful CEO of corrupt pharmaceutical company Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, lost all six of his children — from oldest to youngest: Frederick, Tamerlane (the only two not born from different mothers or outside marriage), Victorine, Camille, Napoleon and Prospero — within two weeks. The evening after the final funeral for his children, Roderick invites C. Auguste Dupin, an Assistant United States Attorney who dedicated his career to exposing Fortunato Pharmaceuticals' corruption, to Roderick's childhood home, where he tells Dupin the true story of his family and gradually unveils the Ushers' darkest secrets.