A Promising Premise, Poorly Executed
The Home (2025), directed by James DeMonaco (best known for The Purge franchise), arrives with a trailer that promises chilling psychological terror. A retired nurse, Margaret (played by Oscar winner Olivia Colman), takes a job at a remote care home for older people, only to discover the residents aren’t aging—they’re something far worse. The setup screams The Shining meets Relic, and with Colman’s name attached, expectations run high. Unfortunately, the film collapses under the weight of its own clichés and a script that mistakes loud noises for tension.
Olivia Colman Deserves Better
Colman delivers the only reason to watch. Her Margaret is a woman haunted by grief (her daughter died years earlier), and Colman layers every glance with quiet devastation. She sells the slow unraveling of sanity far better than the screenplay deserves. The supporting cast—veterans like Peter Dinklage as a cryptic groundskeeper and newcomer Maya Rudolph in a rare dramatic turn—try valiantly. Still, they’re stranded with dialogue that swings between exposition dumps and unintentional camp.
Atmosphere Over Actual Scares
Cinematographer Anastas Michos drapes the film in moody blues and flickering fluorescents, turning the sprawling Victorian manor into a character of its own. The production design is impeccable: peeling wallpaper, dusty chandeliers, and a greenhouse overgrown with thorny vines. Yet atmosphere can’t carry a horror film on its own. Jump scares rely on slamming doors and sudden orchestral stings rather than earned dread. A mid-film sequence involving a wheelchair chase through hallways lit by emergency strobes is more Scooby-Doo than Hereditary.
The Twist You’ll See Coming
Without spoiling specifics, the film’s big reveal hinges on a trope so overused it’s practically a meme. The marketing teases “a secret buried in the walls,” but the answer is telegraphed by the 40-minute mark. Worse, the explanation arrives via a five-minute monologue that grinds the pacing to a halt. DeMonaco, who also wrote the script, seems more interested in speechifying about elder abuse and healthcare neglect than in crafting coherent mythology.
Wasted Opportunities
The film flirts with timely themes—America’s failing care system, the dehumanization of older people—but never commits. A subplot about Margaret’s estranged son feels tacked-on, resolved in a single tearful phone call. The residents themselves, initially eerie with their synchronized whispers and unnatural stillness, devolve into generic monsters by the third act. A late attempt at body horror is visually striking but narratively weightless.
Final Verdict: Skip It
The Home squanders a powerhouse lead, a creepy setting, and a premise ripe for existential dread. It’s not unwatchable—Colman’s performance and the production values keep it afloat—but it’s a frustrating near-miss in a year already crowded with superior horror (Longlegs, The Substance). Wait for streaming, mute the jump scares, and watch Colman act circles around the material. She’s the only thing here that doesn’t feel dead on arrival.
