Midnight Mass Director Mike Flanagan Reveals Oculus Easter Egg

Midnight Mass was released on Netflix this weekend, and any fan of Mike Flanagan’s previous works will recognize many familiar faces. Kate Siegel, Henry Thomas, Annabeth Gish, and Rahul Kohli are just some of the actors who appeared in The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and more. There was even a subtle cameo from Carla Gugino, who starred in Hill House and Bly Manor as well as the film Gerald’s Game. However, actors are not the only connection to Flanagan’s past projects. Midnight Mass was originally the title of a book written by Siegel’s character in the movie Hush, and it turns out there’s also an Oculus easter egg hidden in plain sight. The director recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly and revealed the show features a huge nod to Oculus, his horror movie starring Marvel’s Karen Gillan about a possessed, antique mirror. The titular prop can be spotted in Midnight Mass‘ rec center scenes, especially when Father Paul (Hamish Linklater) and Riley (Zach Gilford) have AA meetings.

“It’s behind them in the profile [shots] on stage,” Flanagan revealed. “It’s all becoming incredibly convoluted, really connected. That’s our goal. I want all of [these projects] to just be a big ball of rubber bands by the time we’re done, just impossible to extricate from each other.”

During the interview, Flanagan also spoke about Gugino’s brief voice cameo as the judge in the first episode. 

“We haven’t gotten to work with Carla on set in a little while, and when we were gearing up for Midnight Mass, she had a conflicting project, but this is a way to keep her as part of the show in a small way – at least until the next time we get to collaborate properly,” Flanagan explained. 

Another one of Flanagan’s frequent collaborates, Annabeth Gish, recently spoke to ComicBook.com about working with the director again on Midnight Mass. 

“This is actually my third project with Mike, because I did a film called ‘Before I Wake’ with him way back in the day,” Gish explained. “I think he is a really magnificent writer who brings authentic characters to life with an elevated sense of drama. You’re still rooted in reality, it just is very easy to play his characters because they’re written so authentically.”

Midnight Mass is already “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes. The series currently has a 94% critics score and a 70% audience score on the site. ComicBook.com’s own Charlie Ridgely gave the show a 5 out of 5 and called it Flanagan’s “career-best work.”

Midnight Mass is now streaming on Netflix.