Movie Review: Anyone Home?

credit: Anyone Home?

Let’s put it out there and state that a lot of people might find this movie a little too insane to really follow since the gist of it is that a woman who expects to succeed and give herself and her son the life they want so badly goes insane at a pace that feels a little too slow but at the same time falls off the deep end very quickly when one isn’t watching closely. Between the woman, Camilla, and her son, Jaime, there is a great deal of madness to be had in this movie, and the strange individual known only as Walker and the store clerk that obsesses over Camilla are additions that don’t appear to make a lot of sense but are still integral parts that would be missed if they weren’t there. When Camilla and her son move into a model home in a housing project in the middle of nowhere, it’s easy to understand why the realtor showing Camilla the home is upset, the homes are unsold, and she has empty real estate that’s going to waste. But her antagonistic attitude still leaves one thinking that she’s going to be sorry about her attitude eventually and that Camilla is taking on far more than she can take, especially since it would appear that she doesn’t have all the proper paperwork to even start the job. If one were to set every element in this movie together in a pile, it would still feel loosely cobbled together, and maybe that’s why it works as a thriller. 

credit: Anyone Home?

The need to take a line of pills at a given time per day is a big red flag when it comes to Camilla. 

Needing to take pills isn’t a big deal. A lot of folks need pills for a number of different things that have to do with their health. But the insane number of pills that Camilla has to take, and that Jaime somehow keeps up with, which is impressive, might start that red flag waving in a lot of minds since it indicates that things aren’t well with the woman, which is another red flag since she’s alone with her son and is obsessed with crafts. Again, it’s not a negative to start with, but as the movie goes along and it can be seen how obsessive and eventually how crazy Camilla is, the initial red flag has been left in the dust since it obviously wasn’t enough of an indicator that she’s not someone that can be depended upon for anything other than a swift descent into madness. 

Jaime is a weird kid, but his mother is to blame for much of this. 

Kids do strange things and even have odd dreams, but the literal whitewashing that occurs in his dreams has more to do with keeping things clean, apparently than it does with anything racial since this type of obsession has affected Jaime, and he’s obviously a little messed up over it. But the idea of wearing water wings while on dry land, and walking through the desert in a robe while trying to feed a stray dog, suggests that his mother’s mania has reached him on a level that might cause many people to call child services in a hurry. From feeding a stray dog to eating strawberry jelly straight out of the jar, this kid isn’t right on a lot of levels, but then he wasn’t given much of a chance when it came to the example he was given.  

credit: Anyone Home?

Trying to figure out this movie requires a bit of patience. 

The various elements of this movie are a bit maddening since Camilla and Jaime are easy enough to figure out, kind of, from the start. But the inclusion of the craft store clerk, Walker, and a few other elements makes it tough to think of what this movie is trying to do. The deep dive into Camilla’s mania is obviously the direction that the movie is going in, and by the time she takes a rifle and shoots the realtor that set her up in the house, it’s obvious that her good sense has gone bye-bye. But if one thinks that this is as far as things are going to go, then they’re sadly mistaken. 

The cringe that’s injected into this movie somehow still makes it work. 

There is a lot of cringe in this movie, but it serves to show just how insane Camilla is and how damaged Jaime is, since thinking that there are mothers in this world that are this nuts and that they have kids that need to put up with them makes this story stand out in a big way. If you can get past the cringe, then this movie is worth watching at least once.