‘Things Heard & Seen,’ directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini ‘American Splendor,’ is a Netflix horror-thriller film about a young couple. Movie featured George Claire (James Norton) and Catherine Claire (Amanda Seyfried), who relocate from New York City to the fictional town of Chosen with their daughter after George wants to secure a teaching position at a local university. Catherine soon discovers that their new home is haunted by a woman who suffered horrendous spousal abuse.
As secret information from George’s dark past begin to surface, Catherine realizes that the only individual capable of saving her is her new paranormal friend. ‘Things Heard & Seen’ is a poignant feminist drama that candidly depicts male-inflicted violence, in addition to the obvious supernatural and mystic elements. If you’re wondering if it’s based on true events, here’s what you need to know.
Things Heard & Seen: Is It Based on Real Story?
‘Things Heard & Seen’ is based on a true story in part. The screenplay was written by Springer Berman and Pulcini and is based on Elizabeth Brundage’s 2016 book ‘All Things Cease to Appear,’ which is loosely based on Cathleen Krauseneck’s 1982 gruesome murder in Brighton, New York.
Brundage first learned about the case in 1992, when she was living in Brighton. Cathleen’s husband, James Krauseneck, Jr., found her body after returning home from work on February 19, 1982.
On her bed, she was killed by a blow from an axe that was still lodged in her head. Sara, their 3-year-old daughter, spent the entire day alone in the house with her mother’s body. Brundage claims that this had a significant impact on her.
“The long hours that this little girl was alone with her mother were the thing that really motivated me to explore the homicide case as the potential architecture for a book,” she said in an interview. In her efforts to “do right by Cathleen,” she wrote about important aspects of the murder while writing the novel.
If you’ve ever seen Netflix film, you’ll recognize a scene that’s very similar to this one. Franny (Ana Sophia Heger), George and Catherine’s daughter, spends the entire day in the house with her mother’s body in the bedroom.
Cole, her babysitter, visits Claire and spends a significant amount of time with her. Even he, however, is unaware that something is wrong. When George gets home from work, he informs the police of his wife’s death through his neighbors.
Cathleen Krauseneck’s murder went unsolved for decades until the police reopened the case in 2016 and enlisted the help of the FBI to investigate. In November of this year, a grand jury indicted her husband, James Krauseneck Jr, on a charge of second-degree murder.
James, who was in his late 60s at the time, was arrested and released after paying a $100,000 bail bond. Since then, James and his attorneys have appeared in court several times in an attempt to have the charges dismissed. His next hearings are scheduled for June 2021.
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Things Heard & Seen: What Happened in the Ending?
Floyd reveals early on in Things Heard & Seen that Inness’ “The Shadow of the Valley of Death” is meant to represent a soul transitioning into the afterlife, and this is used in the book adaptation’s final scene. Following his murderous rampage, George appears to be exonerated of both Floyd and Catherine’s deaths.
By running his colleague and Catherine’s friend Justine off the road, he attempted to kill her and put her in a coma. But it was all over for George once she awoke and told him she remembered everything he knew.
Things Heard & Seen‘s final scene switched into a blazing version of “The Shadow of the Valley of Death,” with Catherine and Ella’s overlapping voices promising that they are stronger now that they are connected, as he stole a sailboat and set sail.
Their message is clear: if Justine stays awake, she will bring long-overdue justice to the cursed house’s women. By the end of Things Heard & Seen, George may have gotten away with murder, but his actions have damned him to Hell.
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Things Heard & Seen: What Happened to Ella?
Catherine and her young daughter Franny begin to have visions of a ghostly woman almost as soon as Catherine and George move into the house. Because these visions are frequently accompanied by eerie events such as flickering lights, the spirit is initially portrayed as a threat to the audience.
Catherine, on the other hand, comes to see George’s presence as a source of comfort, as she reveals to George’s colleague Floyd. Ella Vayle, the late mother of the boys Catherine hired to look after their home, is eventually revealed to be the woman.
Ella’s husband went insane one day, shooting all of their cows before killing himself and his wife in a murder-suicide. Ella’s spirit seemed to be entwined with the house, as it was her destiny to guard Catherine.
The housewives have always seemed to be cursed with a gruesome death. When Ella’s husband murdered her, the first woman was there to help her. So, she promised to protect Catherine in return, keeping a close eye on her from the moment George began to show his true colors.