Homestead

Directed by Ben Smallbone, Homestead follows several characters, including Neal McDonough’s Ian and Dawn Olivieri’s Jenna, as they attempt to survive in the wake of a deadly nuclear attack. It’s compelling subject matter that is, to decidedly frustrating effect, slowly-but-surely squandered by Smallbone, as the filmmaker has suffused the proceedings with a whole host of far-from-enthralling attributes and elements – with the picture’s arms-length atmosphere compounded by its lack of compelling protagonists and engaging story threads. There’s little doubt, ultimately, that Homestead‘s failure can be attributed mostly to its low-rent, movie-of-the-week atmosphere, and it’s clear, certainly, that the picture, more often than not, resembles the pilot episode of an ongoing television series (ie there are just so many subplots and digressions) – with this vibe perpetuated by an ongoing emphasis on the characters’ combative encounters and episodes. (It wouldn’t be a stretch to compare the film to the later, pointless seasons of The Walking Dead, that’s for sure.) By the time the laughably anticlimactic and open-ended finale rolls around, Homestead has cemented its place as a less-than-cinematic misfire that admittedly might improve within the context of its subsequent small-screen followup.

* out of ****