Angel or vampire: The unholy dichotomy of Midnight Mass

This article analyses the Netflix series Midnight Mass (Flanagan 2021) and its ability to engage viewers by tapping into timeless concerns about mortality and meaning while contextualizing these universal issues within a specific cultural moment. The series expresses contemporary American cultural concerns, including political division, ideological extremism and the deleterious impacts of organized religion (e.g. the scandal in the Catholic church). Like much of Flanagan’s work, Midnight Mass depicts supernatural events that provide a catalyst for exploring moral dilemmas and existential challenges. The heart of the series is its deliberate ambiguity about the ontological nature of the supernatural entity – is it an angel offering a gift of immortality or a vampire bringing a curse of destruction? The characters’ polarized reactions imply that the contagion of dogma can be more dangerous than vampirism, and the series prompts viewers to interrogate their assumptions and the certainty of their beliefs.