The Haunting of Bly Manor is a ghost story built on patience. It wants to be a slow burn, and mostly succeeds, though the payoff takes a while to arrive. Based on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, the Netflix series follows a young governess hired to watch over two children in a remote English mansion. What she finds there is not what she expected.
Trailer, via Still Watching Netflix.
The Setup
Victoria Pedretti plays the governess, a woman who stumbles into a job that feels too good to be true. The house is beautiful, the children are strange, and the family that owns it seems distant. She soon realizes the children may be in danger — from ghosts, from the house itself, and from secrets buried in the past.
The first half of the series is a deliberate crawl. It spends episodes establishing the governess’s routine, her growing unease, and the odd behavior of the children. This is where the show shines. The performances are strong, especially from Pedretti and T’Nia Miller as the housekeeper, and the production design sells the eerie atmosphere of Bly Manor.
The Middle Stretch
The middle stretch is where the pacing starts to drag. The governess keeps seeing visions, keeps hearing whispers, but the plot doesn’t move forward. The show repeats its central tension — the governess’s fear, the children’s odd behavior, the house’s oppressive silence — without adding new information. This is the weakest part of the series, and it tests the patience of anyone watching.
“The house is alive.”
That line, spoken by the housekeeper, captures the show’s central idea: the house is not just a setting, but a character. It breathes, it watches, it remembers. That idea is powerful, but the show spends too long circling it without delivering the emotional weight it promises.
The Final Act
The final act picks up significantly. The governess confronts what she has seen, the truth about the children, and the ghosts that haunt the house. The climax is tense, and the resolution lands with some genuine emotional force. It earns the buildup, even if the buildup took a while to get there.
The series also handles romance with care. The governess’s relationship with a man from her past is tender and complicated, and it adds depth to her character without overwhelming the main story.
What Works
The acting is uniformly excellent. Pedretti carries the show with a performance that shifts from curiosity to terror in a believable way. The supporting cast, including Oliver Jackson-Cohen as the man from the governess’s past, and Henry Warren-Hardy and Amelie Bea Smith as the children, all deliver memorable work.
The score is moody and effective. It builds tension without drowning out the dialogue or the visuals.
What Doesn’t Work
The pacing in the middle is the biggest problem. Episodes feel padded, and the show could have been shorter without losing any of its impact. Some subplots — the governess’s relationship with the man from her past, the town around Bly Manor — feel underdeveloped compared to the central mystery.
The Verdict
The Haunting of Bly Manor is a well-made, occasionally brilliant ghost story that suffers from a sluggish middle. Its best moments — the performances, the atmosphere, the final act — are genuinely strong. Its worst moments — the slow pacing, the underdeveloped subplots — are frustrating. It’s a show that rewards attention but demands patience.
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