Sweet Home (Movie Review)

The opening blurb of Sweet Home tells the audience; "50,000 evictions take place in Spain every year. 85% happen peacefully. 13% by force. 2% by Other Methods. Evidently, "other methods" includes  "sweet frat house pranks that lead to murder". This is a film that opens with a old lady dying via shock by a masked man dropping cockroaches on her sponge causing her to fall and break her head open.  

 

Sweet Home is a mostly English language Spanish film that tries to take a different spin on the home invasion film by placing it in a spooky gothic  nearly abandoned building. Alicia, the real estate agent (Ingrid Garcia Jonsson) inexplicably decides the most romantic way to spend her ineffectual boyfriend Simon's (Bruno Sevilla) birthday is to hang around in a creepy building. But alas, the night does not go as planned as mask men come to "evict" the other squatter through sheer force brutality leading them on a cat and mouse game through broken staircases and around dilapidated walls. 

 

The strength of this film is the action, surprising competent acting and a brisk pace at 1 hour and 20 minutes. Forget about the ham fisted political message up front, that paper tiger burns up as quickly as it appears and we are left with strong visual effects, bloody and for the most part believable and a convincing cast that is able to handle this material effectively. It makes an affair that while not particularly impactful, is certainly a serviceable watch for a weekend evening. 

One gets the sentiment that someone somewhere told the director they needed more for this film and let me tell you, this is utter nonsense. This is a film that needs nothing more than a chase; a mad dash through a deteriorating building that ends in a heart pounding and vicious fashion. There is no need for added half hearted gestures at some obscure deeper meaning, just trim the fat and ignite the powder keg. This is a movie that should remind us that sometimes; usually, less is more. 

Sweet Home is a film that does the home invasion/action/thriller genre well, as long as you let it do its thing. One gets the feeling that someone somewhere told the director they needed more for this film and let me tell you, this is utter nonsense. This is a film that needs nothing more than a chase; a mad dash through a deteriorating building that ends in a heart pounding and vicious fashion. There is no need for added half hearted gestures at some obscure deeper meaning, just trim the fat and ignite the powder keg. This is a movie that should remind us that sometimes; usually, less is more.