FrightFest review – The Home (2025)
There have been several horror films set in old people’s homes recently – this follows closely on The Rule of Jenny Pen though it has more plot overlaps with American Carnage. Indeed, this effort from director/co-writer James DeMonaco (of The Purge fame) comes at the same set of realworld conflicts as Diego Hallivis’ film and even runs to parallel revelations – though Hallivis added in a prescient angle about the demonising and exploitation of immigrants while DeMonaco sees faultlines in age rather than race. Max (Pete Davidson), a foster kid, has gone to the bad – graffitiing elaborate despairing murals, the bastard – after the suicide at college of his beloved older foster brother … and is given a choice between hard time and helping out at Green Meadows, a retirement home run by brain surgeon Dr Sabian (Bruce Altman). Max gets on surprisingly well with the residents – including sweet little old lady Norma (Mary Beth Peil) and onetime matinee idol Lou (John Glover) – which means he pays more attention to the blatantly ominous business about what goes on up on the Fourth Floor, where wheelchairbound zombies are left to drool.
Bad, gruesome things happen and Max finds himself at the centre of two it’s-all-a-plot plots – which is perhaps one twist too many, but just remaking American Carnage without the anti-ICE fervour probably wasn’t going to cut it. Bubbling under are a few nods to current youth gripes against the old – a resident mutters about global warming not being real and there’s an overly significant TV documentary about the fracking industry … though this theme doesn’t quite track with the actual premise of what’s going down in the Home (you’ll guess it). Co-written by Adam Cantor, who also plays the most menacing carer, The Home is pretty basic as there’s-something-wrong-with-this-picture horror movies go but there’s good work from Davidson – who doesn’t overdo the sentiment and still gets to utter Gen Z whines about ‘boomers’ and ‘greatest generation – my ass’ … though he misses a few clues audiences will pick up on. And it’s always nice seeing older character actors like Glover and Peil get meaty roles.
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