Home: Clean Break Member Review

As part of Clean Break's Film Festival 2024, we invited our Members to write about the films in our programme. A group of Members generously put themselves forward for the task, and have shared honest, heartfelt and insightful interpretations and reviews of the films.

Read what Claire has to say about the film Home:

A tender portrayal of the complexities of relationships that offer reassuring familiarity, yet leave so much unsaid. The film explores the notion of home and how this can be both safe and potentially dangerous.

From the opening scene of a dull grey skied urban landscape, the tension starts to build. We see a close up of a mouth with lips pressed together, and then a face looking intently out of the window. A close up of their hand on the seat that grips on, scratches the material and taps. A lone traveller with headphones travelling on a train, known from the rumble and soundscape.

Immediately I began to ask questions, who are they, where are they going, where have they been, what has happened to them to cause the unease? I was invested right away. Were they anxious, excited or scared? As a fast train suddenly speeds past their window, they let out a breath and I realised I had been holding onto mine. I am along for the ride.

The second character is soon introduced with an apprehensive hug, that as a viewer I felt deeply. The cavern of the unsaid appears. It soon becomes clear that the traveller on the train is returning from time in prison.

I really felt connected to both of the characters due to their performances. They were captivating, and the relationship between them was deservedly nuanced. They managed to perform wonderfully the feeling of seeing someone again after some time. The sense of coming home with memories, yet so much has changed. I could feel the weight of what was being carried, that could not be shared.

I liked the reference to horror films. In one scene, the characters in our film talk about the characters in a horror film they are watching. Would they themselves decide to stay in the house with what they know, rather than leave through the front door? This held so much meaning, describing how you sometimes can’t see the danger when you are in it. It shares the complexities of why we do things that don’t make sense to people outside of our own situations. Maybe referencing why the character returning from prison found herself there, or perhaps the lingering look to the friend she is meeting again shows.

I liked the clever shots of actions that highlighted the unsaid, like the scratching of the train seat at the start, the yanking of grass, sleepless nights and anxious confused glances. There is the everyday chat and familiar pass times gliding on top of so much, which we get to see glimpses of through these shots, and the characters’ powerful performances.

I resonated with how the character returning was feeling coming home. It isn't simple, like relationships, and like the notion of ‘home’. The film managed to show this really well. Nothing is simple. As it moves from day to night you feel those feelings close in, the lights light up the corners of the room. There is fear, there is a lot being carried, there is a friendship but is it feeding both? Can the returning character feel safe enough to come home both physically, mentally and emotionally?

• Watch Home →