The house is amazing, their kids aren't moaning too much and everything is going great. The only annoying thing is that the Internet and TV goes out during the day. Their phones lose signal too.
That night there's a knock at the door and a man claiming to be G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) has arrived with his daughter Ruth (Myha'La). He says there's been a blackout in the city and they'd like to come in and stay the night.
CW: horrible shit with teeth
Sam Esmail does M. Night Shyamalan but better.
This is ambiguous end times/first days of some apocalypse with the two families thrown together awkwardly. It does some stuff great and some much less convincingly.
There is "a vibe" between Amanda and the Scotts that's clearly born of racism but is handled exceptionally well as she never really says anything she's just suspicious of them by default where Clay is welcoming.
All this tension is amazing and breaks down slowly in a very believable way that is still fragile. The cast are on fire.
Where it sags is in what's happening in the world. Strange events abound but they feel very inconsistent. It's like it deliberately throws stuff from multiple very different 'apocalypses' at you just to keep you off balance rather than because it makes sense.
The stuff with the teeth is just like WTF and then it didn't really matter other than an excuse to make some other dramatic tension happen.
When there's some exposition about what might be happening towards the end it's an awfully weak sauce justification for much of what's occured. Which is VERY M Night Shyamalan.
With almost all of it being character interaction in and around the house it's gripping and the couple of moments of spectacle are all the better for this. Likewise the unresolved ambiguous ending is welcome and leaves you with interesting thoughts about what might happen next.
A good effort from Netflix with a great cast but some underlying problems with the setup (one apocalypse at a time please) this just can't fix. 7/10 worth a look.