A Home Full of Heartache, Horror, and History

MOVIE REVIEW
The Home
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Genre: Horror
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 37m
Director(s): James DeMonaco
Writer(s): James DeMonaco, Adam Cantor
Cast: Pete Davidson, John Glover, Bruce Altman, Mugga, Mary Beth Peil, Jessica Hecht, Victor Williams, Adam Cantor
Where to Watch: in theaters July 25, 2025

RAVING REVIEW: James DeMonaco’s THE HOME might come from the same mind that brought us THE PURGE, but this isn't a dystopian free-for-all. It’s something more contained, more psychological, and, ultimately, more personal. Anchored by an unexpectedly tame performance from Pete Davidson and bolstered by a stellar cast of stage and screen veterans, THE HOME reimagines the haunted house subgenre inside a decaying retirement facility where the dead don’t just haunt the halls—they might still be walking them.

Davidson plays Max, a troubled graffiti artist with a criminal record and a history of loss. After a run-in with the law, he’s sentenced to community service at Green Meadows, a quiet senior home in the woods of upstate New York. But what begins as a forced sentencing of duty quickly turns sinister. Max hears strange screams at night. He’s warned not to visit the fourth floor. And then people start dying—or worse, disappearing. His attempts to get answers unearth not only institutional secrets, but buried trauma from his past, particularly surrounding his missing foster brother. While the film is full of horror cliches, there’s something else here, a deeper meaning, and a more sinister edge than I was expecting.

What sets THE HOME apart isn’t just the central mystery or its gruesome, stunning practical effects (though there’s plenty of blood to satisfy horror fans). It’s the way the film weaves allegory into its bones. This is horror as social commentary, not unlike George Romero or early Carpenter. DeMonaco, alongside co-writer Adam Cantor, laces the story with a generational critique—about how the past eats the present, how legacies are hoarded and withheld, and how youth is often punished for the sins of their elders. The retirement home becomes a metaphor for generational decay, institutional neglect, and hidden violence.

Davidson is a surprise as an anchor. Known more for his comic persona, he portrays Max with a heartfelt intensity and vulnerability that intensifies as the horrors around him escalate. His performance doesn’t shout—it simmers, making the character’s emotional arc more affecting than expected. I was expecting another BODIES BODIES BODIES style stoner, but instead we get more depth than you expect. His chemistry with veteran actors like John Glover and Mary Beth Peil brings surprising warmth to a film that frequently dips into darkness.

Production-wise, the choice to film in an actual abandoned Catholic retirement home lends an authenticity that can’t be faked. From the creaking beds to the untouched hallways, the setting breathes with lived-in energy. Cinematographer Anastas Michos uses the space well, gradually shifting from symmetrical compositions to off-kilter, unnerving angles as Max’s paranoia (and the truth) comes into focus.

The fourth floor, a “forbidden zone” shrouded in myth and fear, is where the film hits its stride. DeMonaco crafts a hellish space that feels both physically and symbolically oppressive. This is where the horror turns visceral—compound fractures, impalements, throat slashes—and where the practical effects team (led by Joshua Turi) delivers some of the year’s most grotesque imagery without relying on just CGI. It’s a reminder of how physical horror can feel personal when grounded in real emotion. The blink of an eye can feel so personal!

What’s perhaps most impressive is how THE HOME never lets its ambition overshadow its narrative. Even as it critiques generational guilt and institutional rot, it stays locked into Max’s journey. That balance between the universal and the more intimate story is challenging to achieve in genre storytelling, but DeMonaco manages it with a focused clarity and care. The story’s third act is as chaotic as it is cathartic, culminating in moments of both emotional devastation and righteous violence.

Glover’s Lou, a retired actor running drama classes for the residents, is both playful and prophetic. Peil’s Norma radiates strength; her presence grounds the film’s more surreal aspects. Mugga, Bruce Altman, and Jessica Hecht bring nuance and menace in equal measure. Even the smaller roles—like Marilee Talkington’s or Stuart Rudin’s “unnamed characters”—add texture to the world, giving the ensemble a depth rarely seen in horror films of this scale.

In the end, THE HOME is a film about what we inherit—pain, trauma, memory—and what we’re willing to do to escape it. It’s a story where the scariest ghosts aren’t dead people, but the systems that let them vanish. And it’s a horror film that isn’t afraid to feel something, even when it’s smashing skulls. DeMonaco has crafted a genre piece with soul, a slow-burn descent into madness that still knows when to swing an axe. If you’re looking for a horror film that punches as hard emotionally as it does viscerally, THE HOME is worth the visit—just don’t take the elevator to the fourth floor.

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