Boredom, hormones, and adolescence lead to deadly consequences in Fien Troch’s “Home.” Inspired by a true story, this entry in the canon of movies about teens-doing-very-bad-things presents a familiar cocktail of ingredients, including a laissez faire attitude toward sex from its characters, inadequate parenting, various other taboo topics, and a couple of button pushing sequences. But its the film’s overall restraint which makes “Home” stand out. Stepping back from the sensationalism that’s often a key part of the genre strengthens the dramatic power of the picture, helping it push past some of its messier narrative issues.
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Right from the start, “Home” has trouble figuring out who to put at the center of the story, opening with an extended sequence in which Lina (Lena Suijkerbuijk) has a heated conversation with her high school principal and is sent to detention. But this is actually Kevin’s (Sebastian Van Dun) story: he’s fresh out of juvie and is sent to live with Aunt Sonja (Karlijn Sileghem) at the request of his mother (Els Dotterman), who fears he’ll be a volatile presence in her home. He becomes fast friends with his cousin Sammy (Loic Batog) and falls into his social circle while getting his life back on track by apprenticing in his uncle Willem’s (Robbie Cleiren) plumbing business. Lina mostly falls into the background, becoming little more than a sexual plaything for Sammy and Kevin and deriving little pleasure from the interactions (at one point, she gives Sammy a handjob that’s possessed of all the excitement of folding laundry).
However, it’s John (Mistral Guidotti) who turns out to be at the centre of the film’s most powerful events. At first glance, it would appear that the sensitive and withdrawn John is your typically socially awkward teen. But he’s struggling under the emotional manipulations of his mother (Els Deceukelier), which are soon revealed to have a much uglier and haunting dimension. John’s private pain is the subject of plenty of rumors, but only Kevin is privy to the truth, and it leads to an incident which powers the second half of the movie.
The film’s boxy Academy ratio framing emphasizes the intimacy Troch achieves with her verité style approach. “Home” often evokes Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant” in its chilling realism, and the decision to use first-time actors in the teenage roles pays off with natural performances that often feel very spontaneous. However, Troch sometimes succumbs to provocation, inserting a couple of penis shots that feel unnecessary. Most out of place is a brief scene of teenagers hurling some truly awful verbal abuse at an obese woman on the bus. These moments feel lifted from a different movie entirely, and the motives for their inclusion seem suspect or cheap, but thankfully “Home” generally operates with better intentions.
Still, the film struggles in its latter half to focus on its purpose. It’s not simply a true crime story, though the observant aesthetic turns procedural in its latter stages. And while “Home” tries to place viewers inside the experience of contemporary teenage life, there’s little insight other than bromides along the lines that perhaps parents and authority figures need to do better by our young people. One of the film’s most touching moments occurs when John reaches out to Sonja for help, only to be turned down… again… as we learn in the same conversation that it’s not the first time he’s asked. This is the closest the film gets to a thesis, but “Home” prefers to view its teenagers almost as a distinct species. Unfortunately, this plants a thin wedge that keeps us from fully relating or understanding Kevin, John and Sammy, and prevents “Home” from landing with more impact.
Social media, long nights to fill with nothing to do but hang out in a parking lot, sex as a daring thrill or activity to fill time, and parents who just don’t understand —these themes form the spine around which Troch builds “Home.” Social media aside, none of this is new to the suburban teenage experience, but rather than ring an alarmist bell, Troch keenly perceives how lonely adolescence can feel. Here we see how that sensation manifests in its worst ways, leaving everyone at a further distance from understanding each other. While some might argue society is in a losing battle with respect to creating wholesome living situations to prevent these kinds of problems, perhaps the most chilling point “Home” makes is that even the most well-appointed and supportive systems don’t always save teens from being consumed by isolation. Troch occasionally obscures this notion when the picture leans toward manufacturing a response in viewers, but its nonetheless the feeling that lingers longest. [B]