{"id":20839,"date":"2022-04-01T22:04:03","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T22:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/?p=20839"},"modified":"2023-01-03T13:20:42","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T13:20:42","slug":"homebound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/archive\/homebound\/","title":{"rendered":"[Review] Homebound (2021)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Homebound (2021)<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dir. Sebastian Godwin<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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by <\/i>Ellis Reed<\/p>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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With the support of the BFI and BBC Film, Sebastian Godwin has written and directed a very assured feature-length debut, in theatres today and on streaming from Monday.<\/strong><\/p>

In Homebound,<\/strong><\/em> Holly (Aisling Loftus<\/strong>) is going to the country, so she can meet the children and ex-wife of her new husband Richard (Tom Goodman-Hill<\/strong>). Understandably nervous, she brings flowers, profiteroles, and a birthday present for the youngest child \u2013 but when they arrive, the ex isn\u2019t home. In a further snub, she declines to return, fobbing them off with a breezy pair of texts.<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

As far as Holly and Richard can see, she\u2019s left the kids to fend for themselves. Of the three, the youngest (Raffiella Chapman<\/strong>) is by far the friendliest; she takes Holly in her stride and drags her off to meet some chinchillas. The older siblings (Lukas Rolfe<\/strong> and Hattie Gotobed<\/strong>) are, if not exactly hostile, certainly standoffish \u2013 and, as the drama proceeds, increasingly furtive.<\/p>

The resulting chamber piece could be described as a domestic thriller. A lot of the tension \u2013 and there\u2019s a lot<\/em> of tension \u2013 comes from sheer social awkwardness. Holly is surprised, both by the situation itself and Richard\u2019s laid-back response. He\u2019s not alarmed by his ex-wife\u2019s absence and lets the children drink a surprising amount of alcohol. This leads to the film\u2019s most artistic sequence, where the group\u2019s drunken revels \u2013 interspersed with shots of discarded bottles and the half-eaten birthday cake \u2013 are scored, non-diegetically, by one of Jeremy Warmsley\u2019s haunting compositions.<\/p>

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During these passages, Loftus gives a very credible performance as someone who, despite their own discomfort, feels constrained in what they can say. \u2018Your kids are interesting,\u2019 she ventures on the first night \u2013 softening the blow (if there even is one) with smiles and kisses. Eventually, she observes: \u2018it feels like things are a bit out of hand.\u2019 Part of her reticence is personality-based, but part comes from her outsider status, constantly reinforced by the film. We sense that her husband comes from a moneyed background; his former house is clearly worth a bomb \u2013 there\u2019s a cellar full of wine \u2013 and two of the children are grandly named Ralph and Lucia (the youngest, Anna, \u2018loves champagne\u2019). Holly isn\u2019t the same as them. She speaks with a regional accent, frequently doubts herself, and says she \u2018always wondered what it\u2019s like to be part of a proper family.\u2019 As you might expect from the genre, the tension slowly rises in pitch, moving from the social to the visceral, until the string finally snaps.<\/p>

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But the truth is, \u2018domestic thriller\u2019 doesn\u2019t capture the tone of the film. As well as these vignettes of social anxiety, Homebound<\/strong><\/em> leans into spookier territory, borrowing tropes from supernatural drama. Ralph and Lucia play creepy duets on a piano \u2013 whatever they\u2019re playing, it certainly isn\u2019t Chopsticks<\/em> \u2013 while Anna compulsively buries her dolls in the woods. The location adds a soup\u00e7on<\/em> of gothic flare, and there are times when the camera wanders alone, pausing to linger on a gloomy hall or locked door. It\u2019s a grand country pile, but the score, lighting and cinematography all conspire to make it seem strangely shabby, like it might always be too cold, or even smell faintly of damp. More than once, we find ourselves in the dark cellar, where a door conceals \u2013 what? Although you might guess at least part of the ending, you\u2019re sure to be surprised by some of it. On the way there, the interplay of tones makes you consider a range of possibilities, some fantastical, others sad.<\/p>

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When you take the credits away, the film is barely more than an hour long, which makes the whole thing appealingly lean. Despite being brief, it\u2019s very nicely crafted, holding interest with ominous mood, artful direction, and some very solid performances (Loftus, especially, does great work in her role).<\/p>

To borrow a phrase from wine-tasting, Homebound<\/em><\/strong> might be short but it has a long, lingering finish. I very much enjoyed watching it, and in the days since, I find my thoughts keep returning to what I saw, including (but not limited to) the finale. Make an effort to see it on the big screen, to really savour the score and cinematography. If you can\u2019t, stream it next week, because it\u2019s well worth a watch \u2013 and if you\u2019re still undecided, check out the trailer below.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEllis Reed\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Ellis Reed is the News Editor for Horrified. He also wrote some ghost stories during lockdown, which you can read for free on his blog.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tales From The Crypt 1972 \/ Freddie Francis Where does one start with examining arguably Amicus\u2019 greatest portmanteau film? Well, for me, wiping away the<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The People That Time Forgot 1977 \/ Kevin Connor The success of Amicus\u2019 first two Edgar Rice Burroughs-based fantasy adventures in 1975 and 1976 led<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAt The Earth’s Core (1976)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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AT THE EARTH’S CORE 1976 \/ Kevin Connor Amicus\u2019 first foray into the science fiction adventure, The Land That Time Forgot (UK, Kevin Connor, 1974)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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British horror Homebound, supported by the BFI and BBC Film, is the feature length debut of writer-director Sebastian Godwin…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2030],"tags":[416,2005],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/homebound-card.jpg?fit=2369%2C1783&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20839"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20873,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20839\/revisions\/20873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}