Homecoming Short Film Review

★★★

Directed by: #WilliamEmmett

Starring: #AustinPickles, #FreddieMcDonnell, #MariaMetheringham

Short Film Review by: Alexandra James

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Homecoming is a short student film written by William Emmett and Benjamin Badby. This story follows a family, a mother and son coming home after being dismissed from school early for bad behaviour. However, both are unaware of the person lurking upstairs, creeping around their home looking for goods to snatch. As the story evolves, the audience learn that this burglar’s forced entry is for a different reason entirely and the narrative soon takes a swift turn and a sharp tug at our heart strings.

Actor Austin Pickles play’s character Scott, the audience’s initial impression is that he is a burglar as he begins to skulk around upstairs of the house and searches through draws, taking in long scans of the room. However, Scott does not look like your typical criminal so to speak, its clear that he is very young and lost in some form. He possesses an innocent appearance and is practically crying out for help. Although our natural reaction would be to call the police and have an instant hatred towards burglars invading our private space, with Scott, it was obvious that he did not have a malicious side to him and instead looked as though he was in a desperate situation.

The family dynamic seemed fraught and had underlying tension between Archie and his mother Karen. Their family appeared broken, and we soon discover that Scott is the missing link. This was the climactic twist which turned the narrative completely, unsure of how this family dynamic ended up in this way, but we can see that there is a real need for reconciliation. It would be great to see how the destruction of this family came into being and even have the story evolve into a feature length film, there is great potential to this piece and a lot of room for character development. There were times when the dynamics between the characters seemed too distant in parts and the acting slightly awkward. However, there is more to be discovered within this conflict and more to divulge from each character.

Director William Emmett does have the foundations to build and develop an interesting story with this short film. The grey colouring to the piece echoes this broken family home and the heavy struggle hanging over them. The acting is an aspect of this piece which does need to be improved slightly so that we can see the characters evolve. However, this is a fascinating short film that is filled with emotional themes which many audience members can relate to.