Sometimes plans change and that can lead to pleasant surprises and discoveries. That was the occasion Saturday night when I decided that an 11:30 PM start of THE SHROUDS wasn’t really feasible, so I pivoted to an 8:30 start of THE HOME instead.
With most horror films, it’s a question on what primal fears that the film is able to tap into. THE HOME finds a way to tap into several. Fears of past abuse resurfacing. Fears of dementia taking away any resemblance of a person you thought you knew. And fears of being a bad child, because you’re shipping off your mother to a nursing home. Those are all embedded in THE HOME and they are all vital modern fears that the film is able to evoke.
The plot is straight forward. An elderly mother Monika (Anki Lidén) has had a stroke and was clinically dead for a few minutes. Now her son Joel (Philip Oros) has made the difficult decision to return home to help her make the transition to a nursing home. And despite support from an old friend Nina (Gizem Erdogan) things are not going well as Monika is acting stranger and stranger. And Monika and Joel are both haunted by visions of his abusive father Bengt (Peter Jankert). Is it a combination of PTSD and guilt, or is something supernatural going on?
Spoiler, something supernatural is going on. Albeit, it’s not quite obvious if it’s a ghost or demonic possession. One of the things that makes the film effective is that it doesn’t quite spell out what the exact nature of going on is. If it’s a ghost, what’s up with that combination of hair and gross bodily fluids above the bed? The metaphor is strong regardless, even if the mechanics are often obfuscated. The result is that it’s often surprising what is happening and why, leaving you on shifting ground. That’s a welcome feeling for a horror film.
Adapted from a novel, Mattias Johansson Skoglund embraces all the ambiguity of the material. Good performances are delivered from the small cast and there’s a lot of empathy generated from a son trying to deal with a difficult situation, that makes less and less sense every minute. Perhaps Mattias Johansson Skoglund relies too much on jump scares, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think they were effective. Mostly though, the situation is messed up enough that it’s not necessary to overthink the presentation. While THE HOME is not a great horror film, it’s a scary little film that gives you plenty to chew on afterwards.
The 2025 Milwaukee Film Festival runs from April 24, 2025 until May 8, 2025. THE HOME had its last showing at the festival However, tickets to many other films can be purchased at MKEFILM.ORG.
