The Home (2025) Parents Guide

Some horror films go for your throat. The Home creeps up behind you, sits down quietly, and just… watches. There’s something unnerving about that stillness, the slow drip of dread and James DeMonaco, best known for orchestrating chaos in The Purge franchise, pulls an unexpected pivot here. This isn’t a movie about masked killers or urban anarchy. It’s about abandonment, memory, and the monsters we inherit without even knowing it.

The film follows Max, played by Pete Davidson in one of his most grounded performances to date a troubled young man who’s bounced around the system and winds up doing court-ordered community service at a retirement home. At first, it seems like this could be a dark comedy setup. A snarky guy surrounded by crotchety old people? Easy laughs, right? But The Home has a much different plan. Slowly, methodically, it unwraps itself like a bad dream you’re not sure you want to wake up from.

Highly Recommended: Oh, Hi (2025) Parents Guide

And while it doesn’t completely rewrite the horror playbook, it uses its pages well. The scares don’t rely on cheap tricks. The unsettling moments build like a pressure cooker, turning the retirement home into something that feels… wrong. Not overtly haunted, necessarily but spiritually decayed, emotionally heavy. The kind of place where even the shadows feel tired.

The Story & What It Tries to Say

The story follows Max as he starts his sentence at Stone Valley Retirement Home, a worn-down facility filled with residents who’ve long since stopped expecting visitors. He’s not thrilled about it, of course his trademark sarcasm is his armor but there’s something about the place that feels familiar in a way he can’t quite place. The staff gives him the usual warnings, but one rule stands out like a sore thumb: Don’t go to the fourth floor.

Naturally, he does. Because who wouldn’t?

What I see from there is part mystery, part psychological horror. Max begins uncovering clues that connect the home to his past memories he thought were long buried start to claw their way back. The more he explores, the more the building itself seems to turn against him. Whispers, strange behavior from the residents, doors that were locked but now swing open.

What the film is really about, though, runs deeper than the ghost story on the surface. It’s about how we process trauma when our own origin stories are shattered or incomplete. It’s about abandonment both literal and emotional and the kind of ache that comes from growing up without answers. The elderly residents aren’t just creepy old people in a horror flick. They’re versions of Max’s future, people discarded by time and family, waiting to be remembered or forgotten completely. And that’s where The Home hits hardest.

Does the film always nail its messaging? Not entirely. Some beats feel a bit on-the-nose, and a couple of character reveals come too neatly. But when it works, it really works especially in those quiet, eerie moments where the film feels more haunted by grief than ghosts.

Performances & Characters
I’ll admit, when I saw Pete Davidson was the lead in a psychological horror film, I raised an eyebrow. He’s known for his dry wit and self-aware comedy, not for brooding introspection. But here’s the thing: he’s kind of perfect. Max isn’t your typical horror protagonist. He’s messy, he’s cynical, he doesn’t want to be your hero and Davidson leans into that without overplaying it. There’s a vulnerability underneath the sarcasm that slowly emerges, and by the time the third act hits, you realize just how invested you are in his unraveling.

Highly Recommended: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Parents Guide

John Glover, always a welcome presence, is chilling in his role as one of the more prominent residents. He brings a slippery charm to the role warm one second, ominous the next. Bruce Altman and Ethan Phillips offer strong support as staff members whose pleasant exteriors hide something more sinister. But it’s Marilee Talkington who gives the film some of its quiet soul. Her dynamic with Max adds a flicker of light in a film that often feels cloaked in shadow. There’s a tenderness in their scenes that reminds you this is ultimately a story about human connection fragile, fleeting, but vital.

Not every character gets the same depth. Some of the elderly residents feel like background players in a haunted house ride, but even then, the performances elevate the material. There’s enough subtle menace and emotional weariness in their eyes to make you feel like they’ve been trapped in this place for decades physically, emotionally, spiritually.

Direction, Visuals & Pacing
This is where James DeMonaco really flexes his versatility. Gone are the chaotic street riots of The Purge. Here, he plays with negative space, silence, and slow, creeping movement. The cinematography by Anastas Michos is intentionally sterile flickering fluorescent lights, shadowed hallways, institutional greens and grays. It feels like the building itself is dying. There’s a constant sense of something watching, even when nothing’s there.

The fourth floor is the crown jewel of dread. It’s never overly grotesque, but something about its design the way the light seems to dim just a bit more, the way the walls feel narrower sticks with you. The production design does a great job of making everything feel lived-in and decayed, without resorting to jump-scare clichés.

That said, the pacing is very deliberate. Some may find it too slow, especially in the first act. But personally, I appreciated the patience. It lets the unease breathe. And when the film does ramp up in the final 20 minutes, it feels like a dam breaking. There’s a burst of violence that almost feels like it belongs in a different film but maybe that’s the point. Trauma rarely arrives quietly.

The Home (2025) Parents Guide

Violence & Gore: This film earns its R rating expect strong bloody violence and occasional gore. Scenes on the ominous fourth floor escalate to sudden, shocking moments of violence. It’s not non-stop slasher-level chaos, but the blood is real enough, and some attacks play out in visceral detail

Sexual Content: There’s some mild sexual content, likely brief intimate moments and a suggestive tone, but nothing graphic or centrally erotic IMDb. No nudity or explicit scenes just glimpses of a romantic thread that ties into Max’s emotional arc.

Substance & Drug Use: The film doesn’t prominently feature drugs, but you’ll spot smoking and perhaps casual alcohol use among older characters. It’s not glamorized it fits the setting of a worn-down, institutional environment.

Language & Tone: Be ready for some strong language that heightens emotional realism. Max’s snarky humor and edgy defense mechanism means you’ll hear the occasional swearing mostly from him, not the older residents.

Recommended Viewer Age

Under 17? Proceed with caution. This is not your typical PG‑13 eerie chiller. For mature teens (16–17) or adults, it can spark meaningful conversations about trauma, isolation, and how environments shape us. For younger viewers? Maybe wait a couple of years.

Final Thoughts & Recommendation
The Home isn’t trying to be the loudest horror movie of the year. It’s not packed with set pieces or scream-queen theatrics. What it offers instead is mood, atmosphere, and a quietly devastating emotional core. It’s a horror film that mourns more than it shocks—and that might not be for everyone, but it worked for me.

This is a movie for people who liked The Others, Session 9, or Hereditary films where the horror is in what’s not said, what’s half-seen, what’s repressed. If you go in expecting The Purge, you might walk out confused. But if you’re open to something slower, sadder, and more psychological, you’ll find The Home surprisingly haunting in more ways than one.