In August 1977, amidst Britain’s dreary period of class war and economic decline, a London family found themselves terrorized by an inexplicable force. Peggy Hodgson and her three children, Margaret, Janet, and Billy were arguably intimidated by a poltergeist in their council house at 284 Green Street.

The Enigma of 284 Green Street: A Working-Class Family’s Haunting

Amid rampant inflation and unemployment, the horror experienced by this working-class family electrified British society, extensively reported by the media. The case provided a welcomed distraction for a society struggling with daily survival in the gloomy reality of 1970s Britain. If there is something beyond our understanding, something beyond this world, there is hope. Moreover, it was highly relatable. If this other realm of ghosts and spirits can be accessed by a working-class family – a single mother and three children – it can be reached by anyone. You do not have to live in a castle or a big mansion; the inexplicable force can visit you even in your council flat.

Unsurprisingly, 45 years later, the occurrences experienced by the Hodgson family still arouse curiosity. I would suggest that the current post-pandemic socio-economic reality fosters this interest, as many of us desperately need to escape from the challenges of everyday life.

A Mini-Documentary with a Philosophical Edge

The Enfield Poltergeist (2023), a mini docuseries directed by Jerry Rothwell, recently premiered on Apple TV+, spectacularly portraying the uncanny events that took place between 1977 and 1979. The show is a thoughtful mixture of social commentary, philosophical questioning of science and superstition, truth and fiction, and finally: the nature of reality itself. In contrast to the Netflix show The Devil on Trial (2023), also inspired by the happenings at 284 Green Street, and Conjuring 2 (2016), Rothwell’s series is much more than just a generic, sensational take on what we can term as supernatural.

250 Hours of Haunting Recordings: A Ghostly Presence

The Enfield Poltergeist is built on more than 250 hours of audio recordings made by Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair from the Society for Psychical Research. The preserved dialogues, interviews, and lip-synced by actors. The voices are ghostly in themselves. They ‘possess’ the actors, and take control of their bodies to bring to life the world that no longer exists.

However, the real-life characters also appear in the documentary. We hear uncanny bangs or knocks on the wall, sounds of moving furniture, and screams. All of this is thoughtfully set in recreated in the studio Hodgsons’ house.

The Nature of Reality: Confronting Truth and Illusion

The act of building the house is shown in the introduction to each episode, and the camera often zooms out from the inside of the building to reveal each artificiality by showing the studio. The show reveals the layers of truth, ultimately suggesting that the notion of truth always depends on our perspective; it is always relative. It slowly and subtly peels the layers of reality, leaving us with entangled fragments.

The Investigators’ Intrusion: Ethics and the Supernatural

The first two episodes focus on Maurice Grosse and his restless attempts to document and examine the apparent poltergeist case. This is a refreshing approach as most Western cinematic depictions of the supernatural focus on a member of the clergy. In The Enfield Poltergeist, such a character is replaced by a scientist who bravely questions scientific methodologies in the face of something that cannot be explained by the current body of knowledge. Through Grosse’s point of view, we assume that the depicted supernatural events are real, but science simply does not have the tools to explain them.

We meet Grosse as a very rational but open-minded individual who gradually becomes obsessed with the case, refusing to accept any other explanation of the events than caused by supernatural forces. Importantly, in the 1970s, the Society for Psychical Research was populated mostly by middle-aged men with grand ambitions to prove life after death, telekinesis, and other related supernatural phenomena. Furthermore, mostly men with very little experience with young kids and limited knowledge of the psychology of children were conducting the investigations. Grosse’s perspective was, therefore, constrained by his embodied identity.

Anita Gregory: A Different Perspective on the Poltergeist

In this context, one of the most interesting characters that appear in the show is Anita Gregory, a German-born linguist and psychical researcher. It is she who attempts to approach the figure of poltergeist as a collection of phenomena driven by family situations, usually centred around a young person. She does not vehemently dismiss the idea of paranormal events indeed taking place but pursues to describe it as the entanglement of a variety of factors, with supernatural forces being only one of them.

Janet Hodgson: The Epicentre

The Enfield Poltergeist, the epicentre is Janet, who was only eleven when the Hodgsons’ house the events commenced. We can hear her speaking with the voice of an older man, Bill, who died at 284 Green Street. It is she who is being disturbed by the spirit fiercely, being thrown out of her bed or even levitating. Some of these incidents were brilliantly captured by Daily Mirror photographer Graham Morris, who also appears in the documentary.

Nevertheless, one of the most interesting scenes in the show depicts Janet speaking as Bill questioning the serious academics about periods or condoms. Those respected scientists seem to see no connection between the psychology of a teenage girl, curious about sex, and the questions asked by Bill.

The Ethical Dilemma: Exploitation in Paranormal Research

Ultimately, the series does a great job of exposing the children, especially Janet, to some degree used and oppressed by the investigation and media circus created around them. We are invited to question the ethics of the methodology utilized by the male researchers: was it necessary for one of the male investigators to lie in bed with Janet and Margaret? Maurice Grosse is mostly depicted as very caring and empathetic towards the family, even paying for their holiday at the seaside to get a break from the terror being spread in the house. However, given that Peggy Hodgson’s husband was estranged, Grosse became a father figure in the family, basically moving into their house, which is also ethically questionable. In many scenes, we see Maurice shouting at the girls for not adhering to his instructions. How much of the paranormal phenomena is, in fact, the result of role-playing, of an ego trip, of the children subconsciously wanting to please Grosse?

Balancing Horror and Social Commentary

In this context, reading some of the negative reviews of the documentary, such as one written by Leila Latif for the Guardian makes me wonder if the author watched the same show. The Enfield Poltergeist is not just a cheap scare but indeed a brilliantly crafted social commentary. It provides multiple perspectives and layers to the story without failing to be truly terrifying.

In a nutshell, The Enfield Poltergeist balances the horror and documentary aspects perfectly. It fascinates and terrifies while also depicting British society in the 1970s. That being said, get cozy, turn the lights off, and allow the poltergeist from 284 Green Street to speak to you in the cinematic language.