Entertainment
Netflix’s Tense And Tragic 2000s Thriller Is A Manipulative Family Fraud
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Sometimes a thriller is just a little too on the nose, and it loses its ability to generate suspense because you already know all of the beats going into it. 2001’s The Glass House is a masterclass in setting you up for what you already know is going to happen, which is a shame because it’s acted and shot well, but its screenplay never allows the viewer to read between the lines. It’s your classic story about two teenagers getting adopted by their wealthy godparents and given a living situation that seems too good to be true.
As you would expect, everything seems too good to be true because it is. The Glass House makes the fatal mistake of laying all of its cards on the table far too early to allow for a satisfying payoff, and since things escalate quickly, its entire premise gets pushed into absurd territory before you even realize that the antagonists have the last name Glass and live inside of a literal glass house. If you find yourself wondering, “What could possibly go wrong here?” you’ll figure it out quickly.
Those Who Live In Glass Houses …
Showing its namesake in both a figurative and painfully literal sense, The Glass House wastes no time setting up its conflict. Sixteen-year-old Ruby (Leelee Sobieski) and her 11-year-old brother Rhett Baker are orphaned when their parents, David (Michael O’Keefe) and Grace (Rita Wilson), are tragically killed in a car wreck after celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. After the funeral, Ruby and Rhett learn that they’re going to live with Terry (Stellan Skarsgard) and Erin (Diane Lane) Glass, an exceedingly wealthy couple who go way back with the Baker family.
Before transitioning to their new living situation, Ruby is informed by her parents’ trust fund lawyer, Alvin Begleiter (Bruce Dern), that she and her brother will never have to worry about money as adults, thanks to their parents’ smart financial decisions before their deaths.
Almost immediately, you can tell something is off. Terry makes sexual passes at Ruby, while Rhett is bought off with the newest video game systems to keep him distracted from the familial and financial malfeasance that’s about to take place. Terry owns a luxury car dealership, and Ruby witnesses him being threatened by loan sharks after he talks about his new “personal piggy bank.” Erin, a prominent physician in the area, is seen on more than one occasion shooting up drugs and blacking out in the living room, which she always explains away as her daily insulin needed to treat her diabetes.
Though the authorities eventually get involved in The Glass House, there’s not much that Alvin can do when Ruby voices her concerns to him. Ruby’s private conversations with Alvin, the social workers, as well as her personal emails, are seemingly reviewed by Terry ahead of time, resulting in him always having the perfect answer when questioned about the family dynamic by a third party. We know the Glass family is up to no good, and we know Ruby and Rhett are in danger, so there isn’t much tension baked into the movie. The setup makes no other outcome possible, which leaves you hoping there’s something you’re missing that could actually generate suspense.
When In Doubt, Listen To The Film Score
The biggest issue I take with The Glass House is its patronizing sound design and film score. The music itself is fine and exactly what you’d expect from a thriller, but it also serves as a blunt cue for every sinister thing happening inside the Glass residence. Ruby snoops around while Terry watches her every move, waiting to confront her, so of course the string section is brooding and plucky, with the occasional dissonant piano notes stabbing through the mix. Every single crescendo exists to tell you that a jump scare or reveal is coming.
Terry and Erin are picture-perfect during the day, but the second the sun sets, they’re arguing behind closed doors, and Terry starts doing his dirty work. Ruby begins the film as a troubled, directionless student going through a rebellious phase, and then she’s suddenly the most perceptive teenager you’ve ever seen, clocking all of Terry’s problematic behavior and skillfully manipulating her way out of a horrifying home life.
The Glass House, which is supposed to function as a thriller, has zero thrills because every trope is used to its fullest, and all of them lead to their most obvious conclusion. If you’ve never seen a thriller, it works as a solid primer for newcomers or younger audiences because it wears all of its conventions on its sleeve, which isn’t inherently a bad thing if you’re just trying to familiarize yourself with the beats before moving on to something more refined. If you’re already deep into the genre, though, this one probably won’t offer much beyond frustration.
As of this writing, The Glass House is streaming on Netflix.