The Home Christian Review

The Home… heard the name and thought it would be just another haunted house horror—same old story: creepy floorboards, slightly shaking darkness, and suddenly a ghost pop-out moment from somewhere. But then I saw—James DeMonaco is directing, and Pete Davidson is playing the lead? That was the moment when I thought… brother, this horror is just a mask. Something else is going on inside. A psychological shock. A slow collapse. That’s not an inside story, this is a snapshot of broken pieces inside a person. Confusion of identity, hangover of pain, and a strange spiritual discomfort—which comes silently and hits right in the stomach.

The main character is Max – a guy whose past is so patchy that now he has probably developed an allergy to feeling pain. Now he is doing community service in a retirement home. Sounds simple, right? But brother… this is not a regular retirement home. There is a “fourth floor” in it – where so-called special care patients stay. But really? That floor is a metaphor. As if every generation’s guilt, unhealed trauma, and emotional dump has been locked in this floor. And now Max will have to go to that floor.

And getting down is not just like pressing the elevator button. It is getting down inside. Descending to the basement of your own pain. Max has to face his past—those little memories he pinched in foster care, those lost-identity moments that never got an answer, and those suppressed truths we keep ignoring because once we saw them they would shatter us all over again. Everything is coming in front of us one by one.

If you look at it with faith, this film becomes a strange mirror—an uncomfortable, blurry mirror. The question arises: how much pain do we suppress just because it’s hard to feel it? And when that pain doesn’t come out, what happens inside? Ephesians 5:11 comes to mind—“Expose the deeds of darkness.” But the problem is… sometimes that darkness itself seems to be safe. The film shows how people hide under their own guilt by wearing a fake cover of spirituality.

But a warning is also clear—this film is not made just to scare. It penetrates deep inside. There are some disturbing visuals, occult undertones also roam, and it is also a full game of psychological manipulation. When mental illness and spiritual confusion overlap… then the person himself does not understand what he is fighting against. So yes, it is definitely a little heavy. Especially if you are a little emotionally vulnerable… or younger. The boundaries should be clear.

Max’s journey can be redemptive… or even not. Because in today’s horror, hope is also a little crooked. Sometimes after the movie ends, there remains only a blank feeling: “That was it?”

But if somewhere in that story there is a small spark of truth hidden… a small spark of grace… then maybe it is worth it. For all those who have left their past behind… or who feel that the burden of someone else’s sins is now on their shoulders—John 8:32 quietly whispers: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” If this movie also hovers around that truth… then there may be an honest light within this horror.

The Home is not a Friday night popcorn flick. It’s a mood-heavy, layered, slightly unsettling ride. But if you’re one of those believers who go searching for the truth even in the darkness… then this movie might just be for you.

Just do one thing for sure- before going inside, open your heart and mind. And also say a small prayer. Because sometimes… the door that scares you the most… is the door of truth. It cannot be seen… it can only be felt.