TAD Film Fest Review: Housebound

By Less Lee Moore

If, like me, your knowledge of New Zealand cinema is limited to Peter Jackson and Taika Waititi, then Housebound will both delight and surprise you. I went into Housebound with zero knowledge of the plot, but you should know that it’s essentially a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a red herring. Just when you think you’ve figured out what kind of movie it’s going to be, it turns into something else. Rather than being confusing, it makes the movie that much more fun to watch.

Kylie, played with cynical scorn by Morgana O’Reilly, has just fucked up. Again. Caught by the cops after an ATM heist goes terribly awry due to some boneheaded actions on her part, she’s sentenced to house arrest. Only in this case, it’s her mother’s house because the judge feels she needs some stability. This does not go over well with the eye-rolling, gum-chewing, heavy black eyeliner-favoring Kylie who seems to be trapped in a state of teenage rebellion despite the fact that she’s 24. Miriam (Rima Te Wiata) is the kind of permed, double-sweater-wearing mum who can (and will and does) chat about the most banal topics ever. At length, mind you.

We understand Kylie’s frustration but we also understand Miriam’s. No one is exactly likeable in this film at first, and that makes it even funnier when the plot starts to reveal itself. There’s a distinct flavor of the ordinary about almost every character in this movie; these seem like actual people, faults and all, and not the glib A-list actors that might have been cast if this movie were made in Hollywood. This, along with bits of well-executed physical comedy and an abundance of swearing, makes Housebound feel like a bit of a throwback to the 1970s or 1980s, with a decidedly unglamorous visual style that gives everything a bit of an unkempt feeling.

As it turns out, Kylie’s house seems to be haunted but she wants no part of it. Miriam insists that Kylie’s in some sort of denial about the unwanted supernatural houseguests, but Kylie is having none of it. Until she’s forced to confront it.

Too much of a reveal of the events in the narrative would ruin all the fun surprises this movie has in store. I will say that writer/director Gerard Johnstone’s feature film debut is the kind of hilarious, suspenseful, creepy (and did I mention hilarious?) movie that could easily become a cult classic amongst those who aren’t even old enough to gain admission into the theater yet. For those adults who enjoy deadpan comedy with their horror, Housebound is fairly flawless.

Housebound screened at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival on October 16. It will be released in Canada via Raven Banner and Anchor Bay Films in 2014. In the US, it will be distributed through XLrator Media.