Jack Goes Home

Jack (Rory Culkin) seems cold to the news of his father being decapitated in a car crash. His pregnant girlfriend Cleo (Britt Robertson) is away visiting her parents. His lesbian friend Shanda (Daveigh Chase) finds him disturbingly sleepwalking. He goes home to care for his mother (Lin Shaye) and uncovers hidden family secrets. Shanda joins him.

Thomas Dekker is an actor trying to branch out into filmmaking. There is some good creepiness mostly due to Culkin's disturbing acting. This is a psychological horror which is outside the norm. Dekker's work is professional but lacks an excitement. There are moments of tension but it never maintains its intensity. It all adds up to an uneven attempt with some interesting aspects.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm glad I watched this. A guy (Rory Culkin) receives a phone call to say his parents have been involved in a car crash and the film then follows his psychological reaction to the event. I don't usually enjoy slow, emotional dramas, but this had enough bite to it to keep my interest throughout. His lesbian best friend from childhood lends him support and a gay, nineteen year old, male neighbour befriends him, but throughout the film you're left to wonder what is really happening, and if any of it actually is happening. There are enough horror and mystery elements combined here that makes this film quite watchable, but sometimes more than a little uncomfortable. Great acting, great characters and a very well put together production that draws you in and just doesn't let you go until it's over.

"There's nothing to do or say. Um... we live, we drive, we crash, we die. Had to happen sometime."

Coincidentally, I have just seen "Marrowbone". A film about someone who has difficulties in processing the loss of a loved one. And when I was about halfway with "Jack goes home", I realized that I was watching a similar story. And it might be that the ultimate outcome is identical. I wasn't far wrong. And to be honest, I thought this intriguing film slightly better than the previous one. And this only because of the brilliant acting of Rory Culkin. A portrait about how madness takes over someones personality.

I hadn't seen the name of the actor who's playing the leading role. So I was wondering for a long time where I had seen that face before. And when I finally found out his name was Culkin, it hit me. Damn, he looks a lot like his brother who made a couple of burglars their lifes a hell in "Home Alone". But I must confess that his acting performance surpassed everything that his famous brother Macaulay ever did. As Jack, Rory displays a whole range of feelings and moods. From pride to indifferent. From sadness to calmth. One moment he tries to unravel an old family secret. The next moment he flees into a daze of alcohol and drugs. He even experienced homosexual delusions. And all this after he was forced to return to his parental home because his father died in a car accident.

It's clear from the start that something isn't right. That indifference with which Jack tells his pregnant wife that his father died. Even though his father apparently was pretty important to him. The way in which he tells in detail about his beheaded father, is strange and frightening. On the other hand though it's strangely enough also funny in a certain way. The behavior of his mother Teresa (Lin Shaye) is also strange. Perhaps the traumatic effect after the accident? After her outburst during dinner about whether she should or should not mourn about the loss of her husband, you start to think she's relieved about that loss. Are those dark family secrets real? It results in a complex mother-son relationship which escalates as the film progresses.

"Jack goes home" is such a movie that makes you feel uncomfortable. Despite the total lack of bloody or frightening images (even with a creepy attic in the house), there's this constant feeling of tension. The psychological chaos is a constant in this film. "Jack goes home" balances between a ghost story and a psychological family drama. Jack is involved in a battle with his personal demons and seems to be gradually losing his grip on reality. And even though the characters are of such a nature that there is always the danger of relapsing in overacting, the main actors ensure that they do not fall into that trap. It feels like I'm repeating myself, but the acting of Rory Culkin is fascinating. For me this movie is worthy a watch. In other words, a must see. And if you get the chance to see it, let me know if I'm totally wrong!

Starts out slow with a boy going home for his father's funeral. Then things start to heat up with secrets from the past coming out with what seems to be some supernatural occurrences/entities. It proceeds deeper into the rabbit hole of twisting confusion of what/who is truly real/alive and what who is demonic/spiritual or is the main character having a psychotic break. Towards the end there seems to be some clarification on what is real, while leaving a lot of unanswered questions about the past and then it tries for another twist.

It tries to do too much at once and seems to fail to truly accomplish anything in the end.

"Jack Goes Home" is a psychological Thriller (with some horror elements) about a boy named Jack (Rory Culkin) whose dad is killed in a car accident, after hearing the news he returns home to help his mother with the funeral and cope with the whole ordeal. As Jack struggles with the loss of his father he starts to notice strange behavior from his mother while also attempting to uncover possible secrets that his parents have been hiding from him for years. I thought the plot line was interesting enough, unfortunately the movie does a poor job of developing and delivering it.

The movie is essentially about a man's struggle with the loss of his parent and his own mental instability. I like movies that dig into the human mind and really focus on one individual slowly losing it, however "Jack Came Home" does a very poor job of pulling that off. Jack is a pretty unlikable character from the get go, he's emotionless, dull, and really has no interesting character traits so to be honest I really had trouble watching him mope around and complain about everything for almost two hours. Jack's mother (player by Lin Shaye) is an interesting character and makes for some of the more interesting scenes in the movie, unfortunately she isn't featured that much.

The movie tries to keep things interesting by throwing in a little bit of mystery but again they just do such a poor job of developing it, by the time big reveals are made you will have likely figured everything out and be bored with it. I saw the final twist coming a mile away, so much so that I kept telling myself maybe that wouldn't be the twist since it was so predictable. I feel like they had the right idea in a lot of places but then just completely dropped the ball in the points that mattered most.

As far as indie horror movie goes "Jack Goes Home" is far from one of the worst, even though it's barely a horror movie, but it is definitely not anything to write home about. It's predictable, drab, and pretty dry overall.