Homestead

Acting ~ 6 ⭐ The best performance by far came from Bailey Chase. You may know him from Longmire. The script did not give the actors much to work with, but this guy handled what he got well. The lead actor, Neal McDonough, who is supposed to help carry the film, was stiff and underwhelming. Everyone else was just, well, not that great. Bailey raised their average.

Story ~ 4 ⭐ The most important part of any film, the story was clunky and quite frankly a mess. The writers broke the first rule of writing, which is to tell the truth. This is an 'action lite' movie, it's heavy-handed and preachy, and the structure is whacky. It's two episodes of a TV series trying to be a movie but missing the mark by far.

Cinematography ~ 5 ⭐ Middle-of-the-road cinematography with bad lighting at times. Not much else to say here.

To Boot At the end of the film, there is an ask to pay the movie forward - to buy someone else's ticket who otherwise might not have the money to see it. This has been done before by Angel Studios for Sound of Freedom. It worked beautifully then, but here's why it won't work this time.

Unfortunately, Homestead is not a real film, and the studios that put it out know this. Angel Studios is using a carrot-and-stick tricky marketing to launch their TV series.

They've given movie-goers two poorly written TV episodes bolted together, and if you pay someone else's way to see it, they offer to give you more episodes to watch at home for doing so.

Summary Don't see it and tell your friends to take a hard pass and maybe we will get a truthful story instead of tricky marketing next time from the makers of Homestead.

Overall Terry Review ~ 5 ⭐

The movie is supposed to be about a nuclear incident, you see the explosion then everybody heads to Ross home. No explanation of who caused the incident or why, just people hiding at the Ross home and securing it from who knows? No aliens, no crooks, no evil people, just hiding from nothing. A huge lack of a Christian theme, no spiritual message, not a movie I would identify with Angel Studios. It was like 2 separate movies, one about hiding and protecting each other from an unknown enemy, and one about finally getting Faith and everything is then ok. Very, very disappointing for Angel Studios. If this movie is a sample of where Angel Studios is heading, it's no wonder The Chosen filed a breach of contract dispute with Angel Studios which was decided in The Chosen's favor. Angel Studios has chosen to dispute the judges ruling and file an appeal. The boys from Utah are on the wrong path. I'll add I got 2 free tickets from Angel Studios, and I would not even have watched it for free it I knew what it was about after I watched it.

Movies from Angel Studios are definitely improving when it comes to the acting, writing, and the overall quality of the films.

Homestead takes a very scary topic, and starts us off on the day of the incident, to show how quickly things would likely collapse. There is little to no backstory on the characters or the state of the world. What you learn about the characters you get from conversations that occur. This can be both good and bad - good in them at the plot moved along at a fast pace, bad because you aren't invested in them as people.

Some of the archetypes used are a little "one note". I was initially exasperated with the usual portrayal of the veteran types and their rigidity. But, it is definitely part of a character arc to show that people can and will change through experiences, so it actually works and I expect more in depth development as the follow up series progresses.

It does definitely stick to a redemption arc through faith, and has a few very obvious allegories (like Jesus using loaves and fishes to feed the masses), but I didn't find it over the top, forced or done in an unrealistic way.

It's a flawed film in some ways, but what film isn't? The debates have dialogue that could have definitely been written better. The direction could have been more on point. The effects of the attacks could have been shown a little more. But overall, it was still a good film and we all enjoyed it.

I waited for this movie for months. I had allowed my anticipation to build to that of a child awaiting Christmas morning. Wanting that one gift that blows the rest away only to open all your gift and find you didn't get the one that matters...Angel Studios didn't gift me my one gift. Instead they gave me a huge build up into a mediocre movie that is basically a long advertisement for a new series. Very little action. Very little scenes showing what's actually happening through America after the bombs. I felt robbed and tricked at the end. I'm not happy about the way they built this up. This could have been the movie of the year. If anyone walks away from this saying they are fulfilled and happy with the production then they are not in being honest and are only attempting to be kind. I can not deny the disappointment my family and I felt as we walked out of the theater.

Cringe. I was pretty excited for this marketed "stand alone" movie, and I was sure it was going to develop throughout. Nope. Apparently this is a pilot, and I really wanted to convince myself that I wasn't giving it enough grace, based on what is previewed at the end. However, there is no reason to watch the rest of the series.

As a religious conservative myself, I really wanted to like this movie. But when the girl's "can I...pray for you" line was delivered awkwardly and distantly to the guy seeking comfort after his mistake (instead of her leaning in to offer a touch, hug, or even a quiet ear to listen), I laughed, then I groaned, then I lost all hope that the rest of the movie would be able to portray a good message convincingly. Sorry to say, this is Angel's first big flop, mostly due to its deceptive marketing, disjointed narrative, and failed dialogue (not to mention, the morality of message is very inconsistent).