Shot in New Jersey, “The Home” (2025) stars Pete Davidson as Max, the temporary super at Green Meadows Retirement Home. The fourth floor is off limits, and Max wants to figure out what is wrong. If he breaks the rules, he may have no options on the outside, but if he starts obeying them, he may lose everything and everyone that matters to him. A storm is coming. Who deserves to get swept away? This movie is the perfect horror movie. No notes.
Anyone who knows me well has heard me evangelize about the gospel of “tall does not equal attractive” with Pete Davidson as one of two most famous examples so do not think that Davidson has finally swayed me to come under his spell. “The Home” is a good movie, and he is perfect as Max, a righteous rage-filled artist who would prefer to live in a wholesome world where he can be courteous to old people, spend time with his family and just do his job. Such simple desires should be easy to fulfill, but like the world, something is off at his titular workplace, and he cannot just live his life. When his foster dad, Couper (Victor Williams), hooks him up with a position, it is a last chance at getting a better life, and Max is grateful for the opportunity.
His coworkers, Juno (Mugga) and Les (Adam Cantor, who also cowrote the script), seem normal though Les seems a bit zealous and casually homophobic. Doc Sabian (Bruce Altman) is a renowned doctor. The residents seem relatively young and active compared to the image of who lives in such facilities. Norma (Mary Beth Peil) befriends Max. Lou (John Glover, best known for playing magnificent bastard Lionel Luthor, Lex’s daddy, from “Smallville”) also takes a shine to Max when Lou is not leading acting exercises. Sadie (Denise Burse), an older lady who styles herself in turbans and pearls, is another member of the welcome committee. Notable American character actor Ethan Phillips from “Benson” and “Star Trek: Voyager” among many others stack this ensemble cast with strong performances. Max is instinctually protective of his elders, and the immediate intergenerational relationships that emerge are wholesome and sweet, but if everything was fine, “The Home” would not exist.
A hurricane is creeping up the coast and headed in their direction. Like “The Equalizer 2” (2018), the storm is symbolic. It signifies how the older generations destroyed the world so people like Max cannot have the same pleasant, calm world that they enjoyed. It also functions as the hand of God getting ready to cast judgment. The approaching weather front is not disrupting Max’s sleep, but bad dreams and screams coming through the vents from the fourth floor. Like Bluebeard’s wife, Max cannot stay away from the fourth floor and finds a room full of catatonic people except for one screaming man (Stuart Rudin) who gets agitated upon seeing Max and appears to be violent. When a resident dies and others seem to be falling ill, Max cannot look away and is determined to set things right, but he is just one person, is ill equipped to solve this problem alone and does not have the status in society to ring the alarm and be credible compared to those whom he is suspicious of. He is just a guy.
“The Home” is the kind of movie that you are going to want to see repeatedly, and it holds up under intense scrutiny. It should not be a surprise since cowriter and director James DeMonaco, the mastermind behind “The Purge” franchise, has a talent for juggling entertainment with deeper socioeconomic meaning without dropping any balls. A lot of filmmakers aspire to achieve the same balance but wind up being derivative or create a story that falls apart like a poorly made souffle. Looking at you, “Opus” (2025).
Many lessons are embedded in the story. Obeying the rules in a rigged game is a false promise to success that could lead to participating in one’s own death. Fearing and trusting people based on their presentation and affableness is another good way to get killed. It may remind audiences of people complaining about the way that people speak up against injustice more than the actual injustice. If people can destroy the earth and leave nothing behind for their children, the solution may need to be extreme to save people’s lives. The denouement is wildly unrealistic and will probably be provocative and controversial, but its mercilessness is elegant in its simplicity. “The Home” is cathartic, explosive and a horror fan’s dream come true. At its heart, this violence expresses a high calling: selfless love, sacrifice and community liberation. Kids, don’t try this at home.
“The Home” is also a debate about the function of entertainment and is primarily associated with the sense of sight. In its purest form, it is a mode of individualistic self-expression or a gift to a loved one. If the corruption of the world affects it, it becomes a way to protest and tell the truth. At its cruelest, it is punching down, manipulation and empty consumption. Photography and painting serve different purposes, especially depending on the medium. Watercolors obscure the truth. Spray paint is resistance and countercultural. Photography exposes and documents. Television is like a Greek chorus exclaiming the original sin of the story and an opiate that numbs or enrages.
“The Home” visually references such horror classics as “The Shining” (1980), “The Omen” (1976) and so many others. All the clues to the mystery behind the facility lie in the oneiric sequences and make so much sense during the rewatch that it is almost a literal explanation of the story. It is a body horror film meets conspiracy thriller. The fourth floor evokes realistic institutional horrors: abuse of patients, isolation, experimentation. Also, fiction is not that far from fact considering there are reports of residents in such facilities being more promiscuous than the average person on the outside so older people having orgies may be the least exaggerated part of the plot. This film made “The G” (2023) seem comparatively sedate and conservative. Even better, there is a vaguely supernatural mythology that is not often used in horror films without diluting the scientific horror. I absolutely love when the old standard villains get a break and someone new gets airtime.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
So within “The Home,” Dea is the Roman goddess of youth, but in real life, her name is Juventas. Bona Dea was actually a fertility goddess. Her worshippers have found the fountain of youth through scientific means, and it is not at the bottom of a well. I’m not saying anymore except those kids did not stand a chance. Talk about grooming. See this generational gap revenge horror film and check out a realistic kind of vampire.
