Nightwatching

Content Warning: Both the source material and this guide contain descriptions of traumatic experiences, emotional and physical abuse towards women, bullying of a person with a skin condition, and violent death.

As the mother and her children are buried by a blizzard, their historic home protects them from the brutal weather. Though it keeps the cold and snow out, the Corner breaches its walls, and the house transforms into a trap, imprisoning her inside with a monster. Instead of remaining a haven, the house becomes a source of fear and uncertainty, and the mother's sense of security is broken when external threats penetrate the boundaries of her home. This inversion emphasizes the idea of vulnerability, demonstrating that ostensibly safe spaces can be compromised, leaving the occupants exposed and helpless. With little time to ponder, the mother takes her children and rushes to their hiding place, a womb-like area in the interior of her home. Its power to make them disappear is reassuring, but as her children surround her in primitive dread, the hiding place itself becomes suffocating and intensifies her isolation. The mother's emotional environment is also mirrored by the old house's multilayered appearance and convoluted layout, for she wanders through the labyrinth of her memories even as she hides in the deepest recesses of the old house.