This Netflix Horror Adaptation Wastes Perfectly Good Source Material

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After writing many sweet and romantic young adult novels, Stephanie Perkins turned to the horror genre, and her 2017 book There's Someone Inside Your House is terrifying and well-written. Makani Young is living in Nebraska with her grandma after a horrible trauma that she is still dealing with. The Netflix movie adaptation was released on the streaming service in October 2021, and while some elements remain the same (most of the characters, the setting, and Makani's difficult past), some major changes altered the meaning and tone of the story.

While it's an entertaining watch, it isn't anywhere near as good as it could be. The adaptation of There's Someone Inside Your House wastes perfectly good source material, as it's possible that the film would feel much stronger and more cohesive if it had followed the novel more closely.

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While the streaming platform has some incredible horror TV shows, sometimes a Netflix horror movie falls flat, and There's Someone Inside Your House wastes a great opportunity with its opening scene. In the novel, the killer targets Haley, a sweet student who is home alone after school. An egg timer gets moved around, which is perfectly creepy and a nice detail that stands out. In the film, a jock named Jackson Pace (Markian Tarasiuk) is murdered in his home, but the idea of a mean high school athlete deserving to die doesn't feel all that unique.

One main problem with the Netflix adaptation of There's Someone Inside Your House is that the killer has been changed from the book. That totally changes the entire story. When teenagers in her town are suddenly being murdered, Makani is understandably shaken and scared. In