Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher has arrived just in time for the spooky season, and it's embracing its queer identity.
Creator Mike Flanagan previously delighted sapphic audiences with The Haunting of Bly Manor, which featured a tragic lesbian love story starring Victoria Pedretti and Amelia Eve as Dani and Jamie. Flanagan, known for Netflix horror hits like The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club, continues to push boundaries with his latest LGBTQ+ offering.
The eight-episode limited series draws inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's gothic short story and features an intriguing cast of queer characters.
The chilling and gruesome story highlights a dark secret within the Usher family, as the heirs start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their past. Roderick Usher, portrayed by Bruce Greenwood (Gerald's Game), is the ruthless patriarch who fathered six children from five mothers. The majority of his grown-up offspring are unapologetically queer.
Here’s a quick guide to who’s who, with some minor spoilers here and there.
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Perry Usher, played by Sauriyan Sapkota (The Midnight Club), is the youngest Usher child, embodying the "live fast, die young" ethos. Perry, a hedonist, hosts underground raves and has intimate encounters with people of all genders.
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Napoleon Usher, played by Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass, iZombie), is Perry's older brother and is a bastard child. He lives with his boyfriend, Julius (Daniel Jun), but things take a turn when viewers watch a scandalous cheating scenario involving another woman.
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Camille L'Espanaye, played by Kate Siegel (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass), is a formidable PR manager who engages in a morally questionable workplace threesome with her assistants, Tina (Aya Furukawa) and Toby (Iggy Rigney).
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Victorine Lafourcade, portrayed by T'Nia Miller (The Haunting of Bly Moor), is an ambitious lesbian research scientist who dates surgeon Dr. Alessandra Ruiz (Paola Núñez).
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Auguste Dupin, played by Carl Lumbly (M.A.N.T.I.S), is the detective tasked with bringing the Usher family to justice. While we never get a big look into his life, he mentions his husband and children in the series.
The Fall of the House of Usher has earned praise for its unapologetic queer representation. Fans have expressed their excitement at the diverse LGBTQ+ characters in the series, who have their sexualities addressed without fanfare or trauma. It is now available to stream on Netflix.
