Not to put too fine a point on it, but September of 2001 was hardly a lucrative time for the theatrical industry, and The Glass House was understandably sent out to multiplexes without a chance of turning a profit after Sony decided to stick to its initially-agreed release date of the 14th.
Understandably, then, the psychological mystery thriller with no small shades of horror didn’t even come close to recouping its $32 million budget, although matters presumably weren’t helped by the fact it was terrible. A 22 percent Rotten Tomatoes approval rating was about fair, but because it was tangentially spooky, standalone sequel The Good Mother released five years later because no self-respecting scary story is allowed to exist as a one-and-done.
There was a chance for some pulpy thrills to be found, but instead the decision was made to ramp up the twists and turns to launch it headfirst into ludicrous territory, and not even a stacked cast that numbered Diane Lane, Bruce Dern, Stellan Skarsgård, and Rita Wilson to name but four could come close to selling it with a straight face.
For what it’s worth, though, Netflix subscribers have decreed that The Glass House should be the latest misfire long forgotten from memory to be dusted off and given another chance, with FlixPatrol naming it as one of the newest additions to have cracked the streaming service’s worldwide most-watched list.
Leelee Sobieski’s Ruby and her younger brother are taken in by new guardians after their parents are killed in a car crash, with the promise of a luxurious lifestyle in the California sun proving to be understandably appealing. Naturally, things are not quite as rosy as they appear to be, but calling it predictable from there on out might be underselling it somewhat.