‘The Home’ Movie Review: Nursing Home Horror-Thriller Takes A While To Get Bonkers
Photo from Roadside Attractions
From Jeremy Kibler
Steadfast in writing all five Purge movies and directing the first three, director James DeMonaco probably won’t be as lucky in launching an entire franchise with The Home, a bonkers but fatally ridiculous horror-thriller set in a creepy old-age home. Co-written by DeMonaco & Adam Cantor, the film is a variation on the “nothing is what it seems” trope in a seemingly ideal location—Rosemary’s Baby and Get Out immediately spring to mind—but the overall delivery doesn’t quite match its intriguing premise and an unlikely lead.
Pete Davidson excels with promising dramatic chops playing Max, a grown foster child whose criminal mischief nearly gets him jail time. His foster parents (Victor Williams, Jessica Hecht) want a fresh start for him, and as community service, he’s forced to work as a janitor at Green Meadows, a nursing home in the woods of upstate New York. On his first day, the caretaking staff, led by Dr. Sabian (Bruce Altman), gives him the rundown and tells him to just follow the rules; as soon as he’s told the 4th floor is absolutely off-limits, we know it won’t take long before Max hears screaming and checks out the 4th floor. Green Meadows seems idyllic for the residents in their twilight years, and some of the folks are quite friendly, but you bet some capital-W weirdness is afoot.
By default, The Home keeps one guessing as to what in the Sam Hill is going on behind closed doors of Green Meadows. With a delivered line here and an odd compliment to Max there, pieces of the twisted truth can be gleaned without the script fully showing its hand. In the meantime, the film follows an overly familiar structure you could set your watch to but is at least never so far ahead of Max—he’s pretty suspicious early on—that our interest completely wavers. Once all is revealed (thanks to a black light, an old woman’s helpful journal, some strange chatroom, and photo albums in a secret attic), it becomes too ludicrous by half. You’ll either be rolling your eyes or enjoying it as unintentional camp.
With only Bodies Bodies Bodies being the closest to a horror film the comedic actor has done, Davidson actually acquits himself quite well as a vulnerable protagonist to follow. Having lost his older foster brother Luke (Matthew Miniero) too soon in life, Max is easy enough to care about and gives the viewer an emotional hook. The rest of the cast is solid, too. Mary Beth Peil (who will forever be Grams from Dawson’s Creek) is lovely and sympathetic as resident Norma, and veteran character actor John Glover constantly rides the line between untrustworthy and everybody’s friend as Lou, a gregarious former Broadway actor, before chewing the scenery to bits.
There is a lot of gnarly eye trauma in The Home that might even get hardened horror fans squirming. Otherwise, the supposed scares (most of them set off in obvious dream sequences) are too standard and flashily edited to land any impact. The film looks fine enough, apart from the occasional shots that look filmed on early digital cameras, and succeeds in the practical effects department. That disturbing, Society—level reveal is quite the doozy, for sure, making one wish it was better served with tighter pacing in the early going. A ferociously over-the-top finale also certainly delivers the gore and a decent amount of catharsis when many get their just desserts, but there’s no actual conclusion once so much destruction is left in the wake of a character’s rampage.
Genre offerings that take big swings will always be admired. While The Home does eventually step up to bat, the time it takes to get to the battiness is akin to watching your granny take her walker down the hall.
Rating: 2/5
The Home hits theaters on July 25, 2025.
