Keagan Karnes’ Home Movies is a by the numbers comedy-drama centred around two siblings who come together after their father’s death. Expectedly, one is a success at life and the other, much less so and the squabbles between them, big or small, stem from just that.
A surprise discovery while the two, Abigail (Catherine E. Jones) and Matthew (Alex Knight), clean out their father’s study (the film is set here entirely) gets the ball rolling: their father’s large stash of vintage porn at home in VHS tapes, all of them marked “Home Movies”. The waves of dismay and horror that come next form the backbone of the film’s comedic elements. And although this is funny – imagine finding your dad’s porn stash on the day of his funeral – the jokes are few and far between, and it just doesn’t fly.
The reconnection between Abigail, who was her father’s favourite AND has a respectable life, and Matthew, who is struggling, is cute and even warm in places but lacks the nuance to merit a second watch. The two characters are likeable enough: Abigail’s open-mouthed, almost naive horror is endearing (as is their childhood magic show tape, until their father taped a porn video over it. Really, there’s far more horror here than either comedy or drama) and Matthew’s cynical ways provide their own avenues for empathy. Light jazz in the background sets it all together nicely.
Home Movies works best as an appetizer to the slice of life genre; after you’ve watched a few of them, this one may start to feel less rewarding an experience. Still, the dads and porn combination will always be funny. And horrifying.
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