Midnight Mass cast: who stars in Netflix series with Kate Siegel, trailer, plot, reviews, and what is ‘angel’?

Mike Flanagan has made a name for himself as one of the most exciting horror directors and writers working right now.

Following the success of his hugely popular Haunting anthology series The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor taking over Netflix, Flanagan is back once again with his newest offering - Midnight Mass.

This is everything you need to know.

What is Midnight Mass about?

The seven episode limited series follows the isolated community on Crockett Island, and the events that begin happening after a new priest turns up and appears to begin performing miracles - from healing the sick to making the elderly young again.

While some welcome Father Paul and his ways, others remain skeptical - including Riley Flynn, a young man who has returned to the island after enduring a four year prison sentence for killing a person during a drunk-driving accident.

Riley’s fellow skeptics include his old school friend Erin Green, who is now pregnant and recently escaped an abusive relationship.

The official synopsis for the show says: “Midnight Mass tells the tale of a small, isolated island community whose existing divisions are amplified by the return of a disgraced young man and the arrival of a charismatic priest.

“When Father Paul’s appearance on Crockett Island coincides with unexplained and seemingly miraculous events, a renewed religious fervor takes hold of the community – but do these miracles come at a price?”

Who is in the cast?

Flanagan is known for working with a number of the same actors from his previous projects - alumni from his Haunting anthology also starring in Midnight Mass is:

• Katie Siegel as Erin Greene 
• Rahul Kohli as Sheriff Hassan
• Henry Thomas as Ed Flynn
• Alex Essoe as Mildred Gunning
• Annabeth Gish as Dr Sarah Gunning
• Robert Longstreet Joe Collie
• Samantha Sloyan as Bev Keane

Zach Gilford (Good Girls, Friday Night Lights) joins the cast as Riley Flynn, as the disgraced young man who returns to Crockett Island at the same time as Father Paul, played by Hamish Linklater (Legion, Tell Me Your Secrets).

The rest of the cast includes:

• Kristin Lehman (Altered Carbon, The Killing) 
• Igby Rigney (Fast & Furious 9, Blue Bloods)
• Annarah Cymone (Caged) 
• Rahul Abburi (Good Game, Killer Ransom) 
• Matt Biedel (Narcos: Mexico, The Umbrella Academy) 
• Michael Trucco (Disjointed, Grandfathered) 
• Crystal Balint (The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco, Mech-X4) 
• Louis Oliver (Sherlock) 
• Quinton Boisclair (Legion, Channel Zero) 

Is it connected to The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor?

While many viewers will know Flanagan from his work on his haunting series, The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor.

While Midnight Mass and Flanagan’s haunting anthology share a few actors in common, this is where the similarities end. The two are not at all connected narratively.

Midnight Mass also deviates from Flanagan’s previous works as its story is not rooted in any classic works of horror fiction - The Haunting of Hill House was loosely based on the works of Shirley Jackson, and The Haunting of Bly Manor that of Henry James.

However fans of Flanagan’s featured films Hush and Gerald’s Game may notice a hidden link between the films and the new series - characters in both Hush and Gerald’s Game can be seen reading a book titled Midnight Mass.

What are the reviews saying?

On popular review site Rotten Tomatoes, Midnight Mass has scored an “average tomatometer” of 92% and an average audience score of 77%.

The average tomatometer is calculated when at least 50% of a series’ seasons have been scored. The average tomatometer is the sum of all season scores divided by the number of seasons with a tomatometer.

The audience score reflects the percentage of users who have rated the title 3.5 stars or higher.

The critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes says: “[Midnight Mass is an] ambitious meditation on grief and faith that is as gorgeous as it is unsettling, Midnight Mass’s slow boil is a triumph of terror that will leave viewers shaking - and thinking - long after the credits roll.”

Jack Seale from The Guardian gave Midnight Mass three out of five stars, saying that while the new series “aims to be a profound meditation on God and existence” it “falls into absurdity”.

Seale wrote: “No one wants to hear this when Netflix drops a seven-hour miniseries, but Midnight Mass only really gets going in episode three. And, when it finally sets off, it doesn’t seem to know where it is heading.”

Brian Tallerico, from Roger Ebert’s review site, gave it an even lower star rating of two and a half out of five.

“Flanagan’s study of religion and immortality sometimes rekindles memories of actual midnight masses in that it can be a little exhausting in its preachiness with a few too many monologues,” Tallerico wrote.

Dan Jolin, from Empire, gave the new Netflix series a higher rating of four stars out of five.

He wrote: “Flanagan also rewards us for our patience during the slower early episodes. Come the final two hours, he really lets rip with the action as horrifically misplaced acts of faith and love bear their diseased fruit.

“And, to be fair, without its five-hour mystery-weaving build-up, it’s hard to imagine Midnight Mass’ ferocious climax hitting so hard.”

Prior to its release on Netflix, legendary horror writer Stephen King tweeted: “MIDNIGHT MASS, on Netflix: Mike Flanagan has created a dense, beautifully photographed terror tale that climbs to a high pitch of horror by the 7th and last episode.”

What is the angel?

Warning for those who have not yet watched Midnight Mass - spoilers ahead.

Midnight Mass introduces viewers to a monstrous creature that characters refer to as an angel, as dubbed by Monsignor Pruitt, despite looking more like a devil.

So what exactly is the angel creature? We learn that the Father Pruitt first encounters the angel in a cave in Jerusalem. After being attacked, the angel drains his blood like a vampire and transforms him into a younger version of himself, who turns out to actually be Father Paul.

As a man who holds all his faith in God, Father Paul convinced himself that the creature was an angel - if he acknowledged it as a vampire, that would mean admitting that he was dealing with a dangerous creature of the devil.

He reveals that he brought the so called angel back to the island to use its blood to perform miracles, and to keep Crockett Islanders Sarah and Mildred from dying.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan explained that a big part of the angel was influenced by The Prophecy, a 1996 film about the Archangel Gabriel who arrives on earth to strengthen his power.

Flanagan said: “Whenever God needs to do something horrible to someone in the Bible, he sends an angel.

“Do you really want to meet a creature like this? Imagine what that creature must be like.

“This is what you send to slaughter the first borns of the Egyptians. Angels are scary.

“The idea that you could reasonably mistake this terrifying creature for a biblical angel was a little irresistible.”

How can I watch it?

It’s good news for those keen to check out the newest offering from Flanagan as all seven episodes of the series dropped on Netflix on Friday 24 September.

In the UK, if you don’t already have Netflix, you can sign up for one of three packages, which all offer varying features based on their price.

For £5.99 per month, you can get the basic package:

• Number of screens you can watch on at the same time: one
• Number of phones or tablets you can have downloads on: one
• Unlimited movies and TV shows
• Can be watched on a laptop, TV, phone or tablet 
• No HD or Ultra HD available

For £9.99 per month you can upgrade to the standard package:

• Number of screens you can watch on at the same time: two
• Number of phones or tablets you can have downloads on: two
• Unlimited movies and TV shows
• Can be watched on a laptop, TV, phone or tablet 
• HD available, but no Ultra HD 

Finally for £13.99 per month you can opt for the premium package:

• Number of screens you can watch on at the same time: four
• Number of phones or tablets you can have downloads on: four
• Unlimited movies and TV shows
• Can be watched on a laptop, TV, phone or tablet 
• HD and Ultra HD both available

In 2020 the streaming platform made the decision to stop offering its 30 day free trial.

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