The Home

The film The Home, directed by James DeMonaco, elicits a curious mix of anticipation and skepticism. Known primarily as the architect of The Purge franchise, DeMonaco has often struck a balance between thrills and sharp social commentary. His new film suggests a further attempt to use horror as allegory, this time turning to generational divisions and fears about aging. Add to that the novelty of seeing Pete Davidson stray from his comedic roots for his first dramatic role, and there was reason to expect something bold. Yet despite its potential, The Home struggles to find coherence, never quite deciding whether it wants to be a psychological thriller, a grotesque spectacle of body horror, or a camp satire. The result is a film that starts well but loses its way in incoherence and excess.

The premise is immediately intriguing. Max, played by Pete Davidson, is a young man haunted by the loss of his adoptive brother, who channels his disillusionment into graffiti that gets him into trouble with the law. To keep him out of jail, his adoptive father (Victor Williams) finds him a job as a security guard at the Green Meadows retirement home, where he quickly notices that all is not as it seems. The elderly residents are welcoming, particularly Mary Beth Peil as Norma, who becomes both a confidante and a surrogate mother figure, and John Glover as Lou, a former actor whose eccentricity hides something darker. However, the staff, particularly the disturbing Dr. Sabian played by Bruce Altman and the orderlies played by Adam Cantor and Mugga, make it clear that certain areas are off-limits, especially the mysterious fourth floor. Naturally, Max disobeys, and what he discovers there draws him into a web of horror, paranoia, and conspiracy that blurs the line between reality and nightmare. For most of the first act, the film maintains a genuinely unsettling atmosphere, thanks to Anastas N. Michos' cinematography and Nathan Whitehead's disturbing soundtrack, which give Green Meadows an atmosphere of suffocating terror.

But while James DeMonaco manages to build suspense with whispers, shadows, and glimpses of horror, he quickly abandons restraint in favor of disjointed shocks and excessive violence. The film gets bogged down in repetitive dream sequences, random hallucinations, and a plot that piles on conspiracies (government experiments, pagan rituals, mysterious hackers) without ever weaving them into a coherent whole. What could have been a sharp exploration of grief, generational resentment, and institutional cruelty collapses into a mishmash of horror clichés. The finale unleashes a torrent of violence—impalements, shredded flesh, bloody carnage—but it feels hollow, as if spectacle alone could compensate for the lack of narrative clarity. Worse still, Pete Davidson's performance never rises to the occasion. His Max remains largely impassive, alternating between detached sarcasm and empty stares, a style that works in comedy but here robs the character of all emotion. Scenes that should be filled with fear or grief feel strangely flat, undermining the very heart of the story.

And yet, even amid the chaos, we glimpse flashes of what The Home could have been. Mary Beth Peil brings a warmth and gravitas that elevate every scene she appears in, making Norma the only truly captivating presence in the film. John Glover, with his theatrical flair, injects a kind of playful menace that momentarily breaks the monotony. These veterans remind us that in a better-written and more disciplined film, The Home could have been a poignant exploration of aging and human connection. Instead, their performances are drowned out by the weight of James DeMonaco's excess. In the end, what remains is not terror, but frustration: the feeling that the film had all the necessary ingredients—an atmospheric setting, a provocative theme, and an unusual protagonist—but wasted them in favor of noise and gore.

The Home feels less like a finished horror film than a failed experiment. It begins with a disturbing promise of psychological horror, builds around a conspiracy that could have had deeper meaning, then drowns in incoherence and kitsch excess. For fans of James DeMonaco, it will feel like a step back from the subversive energy of The Purge. For those curious to see Pete Davidson in a dramatic role, it only confirms that he is more comfortable in roles that allow him to use humor or self-deprecation. And for horror fans hoping for a fresh and disturbing new entry in the genre, The Home is likely to leave them exasperated, faced with a film that loses its soul before it even manages to really scare them.

The Home
Directed by James DeMonaco
Written by James DeMonaco, Adam Cantor
Produced by Bill Block, Sébastien K. Lemercier
Starring Pete Davidson, John Glover, Bruce Altman
Cinematography: Anastas N. Michos
Edited by Todd E. Miller
Music by Nathan Whitehead
Production company: Miramax
Distributed by Lionsgate (United States), Roadside Attractions
Release date: July 25, 2025 (United States)
Running time: 95 minutes

Seen on August 23, 2025

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