Since 2023, AMC has been regularly holding their ‘Screen Unseen’ program—an exciting event that often drops surprise movies early. This can help to expose audiences to films they would not have otherwise sought out. Most recently, they dropped perhaps their most high profile title yet with Jurassic World: Rebirth. Their horror iteration, ‘Scream Unseen,’ is even more appealing for genre fans. Hoping for Together or Weapons, this time around was actually Pete Davidson flick The Home. Helmed by The Purge franchise mastermind James DeMonaco, one would assume the creator’s trademark dose of mayhem would return, potentially blended with humor given the presence of comedian Davidson in the lead role. Only minutes deep, it became quite clear that nobody involved knew what direction to take this strange concept. Riddled with more plot holes than severed body parts, The Home presents an insulting take on nursing home horror that refuses to quietly slip away.
Max (Davidson) is in serious need of rehabilitation. His brother has died years back, leaving Max rudderless. Copious flashbacks show us Max’s backstory juxtaposed against his present, which strangely adds very little to his characterization. He cannot seem to stay out of trouble. In this case, that translates to making elaborate graffiti murals, then sticking around long enough to be arrested by the cops. Max’s artistic side comes up one more time, and otherwise does not seem notable. With his foster parents’ patience put to the test, they give Max an ultimatum. He must carry out community service working as a live-in janitor at a shady retirement home, or face some jail time. From the second he arrives, strange happenings begin, be it bizarre behavior from the residents or the off-limits fourth floor.
Not a single iota of this film is believable on any level, and it doesn’t help that it looks so cheap either. The premise seems questionable before eventually evolving into preposterous outlandishness. But there does initially spark a glimmer of promise once Max arrives at the titular “home.” A woman randomly starts bleeding out of nowhere in the pool; a faceless elderly couple in masks loudly have sex when Max tries to clean their room; a lockpicked visit to the forbidden floor results in an erratic outburst; a jarring death appears to spell out that all is not as it appears. But these are just a few disparate elements of the script that refuse to work in harmony. Any inconsistencies can just be blamed on a lazy plot device revealed later on. Even that eventual reveal fails to elicit excitement, instead dipping toes into so-bad-it’s-good territory.
Despite working as a janitor, we see Max maybe mop up one spill. Character motivations make virtually no sense whatsoever. Do not even contemplate calling the police for an emergency—at no point does Max ever even consider the option. The nursing home apparently has almost no staff and no surveillance, and not even the later attempt to justify the place’s true nature can manage to explain away a litany of contrivances. To add insult to injury, there are more dream sequences than an installment of A Nightmare on Elm Street; after the first couple, they quickly grow stale. As Max, Davidson displays little emotion for his scenario, shedding a tear for a resident and little else. This especially disappoints as a huge fan of his dramatic and comedic work in films like The King of Staten Island and Bodies Bodies Bodies. Max talks aloud to himself more than once. Each time the film stops in its tracks to explain a twist, it does so by beating the audience over the head with its nonsensical explanations rather than organically earning them. If these drastic shfits actually made sense within the logic presented, that would be one thing. The reality tells a different story.
Without talking spoilers, the final fifteen minutes or so will probably make or break the movie for the majority of those who view it. This isn’t old person horror a la The Visit or The Front Room. At the very least, DeMonaco deserves some points for originality. The use of practical effects assures that when the gory stuff happens, it does indeed look good. That said, nothing here would register as memorable unless we are talking about memorably horrible. The majority of the performances are dull and uninspired (though Smallville’s John Glover is a notable standout), and the writing often comes off tryhard. There’s a hurricane mentioned about thirty times—it has legitimately one payoff, and not even a plot relevant one at that. Without a compelling throughline and barebones visuals, The Home seems destined to divide audiences. Though some will undoubtedly admire whatever the hell was happening in that final act, for this viewer, DeMonaco’s newest is one of the worst movies I’ve seen on the big screen in years.
Check in at The Home and never check out when it heads exclusively to theaters on Friday, July 25th.
