Homewrecker (3/5) – Fantasia 2019 Review

HOMEWRECKER is a new horror-comedy starring Alex Essoe and Precious Chong. The two also co-wrote the script with the director, Zach Gayne. This is a wonderfully minimalistic story that just builds and builds. World premiere at Fantasia 2019. Full Homewrecker review below.

Homewrecker is a minimalistic horror-comedy starring just two people, Alex Essoe and Precious Chong. And really, that’s all this movie needs to be well worth watching.

The two stars even co-wrote the script with the director and you can tell. Homewrecker feels like a movie that is equal parts fun and passion. The movie just had its world premiere at Fantasia 2019 which seems perfect.

Find out if this is your kind of movie in the rest of our Homewrecker review.

Alex Essoe and Precious Chong

Homewrecker is all about its two stars: Alex Essoe and Precious Chong. While I was not familiar with Precious Chong, I’ve been crazy about pretty much everything Alex Essoe has done in the past.

When she was in Starry Eyes (2014), I knew she would be one to watch. Somehow, she always manages to fascinate in various ways. Other movies you might know her from include The Neighbor (2016) and Midnighters (2017).

Also, she’s in Mike Flanagan’s upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep. Yes, the sequel to The Shining.

In Homewrecker, it’s all about the chemistry between these two actors and it really works. Precious Chong has to be all kinds of “off” and Alex Essoe needs to react to whatever crazy comes next.

Feature film debut from director Zach Gayne

This is the feature film debut for Zach Gayne, who previously made a few short films and directed on a TV series. However, he already has his next movie, States, in post-production so we should see more from him soon.

Once again, Alex Essoe will be starring in his movie, which is always enough reason for me to check it out. Yes, even after watching The Super which was pretty strange. But that was hardly Alex Essoe’s fault.

You should check out: Read more about that strange movie in our The Super review here >

Usually, it appears that Zach Gayne likes to both write and direct his movies, which is something I always appreciate. It tends to result in movies where you can feel that the filmmaker is passionate. They have opinions and really care about the result as opposed to being paid simply to direct someone else’s story.

Homewrecker world premiere at Fantasia 2019

Homewrecker just enjoyed its world premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival 2019 and it seems like the perfect venue. This movie is a perfect little horror-comedy where you’re never quite sure just how far things might go.

Honestly, it is a treat to watch and you should enjoy most of it. We would give it 3½ stars if we gave half stars. The only thing that lets it down is one character’s inability to act when it really matters.

It might seem like a small thing, but it matters in terms of the overall feeling in the movie. And yes, you will probably guess a few of the plot twists ahead of time, but it doesn’t matter. You’re in it with the two lead characters so it’s only natural that you come to the same conclusions that they do.

Whenever you get the chance, you should definitely check out Homewrecker. It will be out on digital and DVD on July 7, 2020.

Details

Director: Zach Gayne
Writers: Precious Chong, Alex Essoe, Zach Gayne
Stars: Alex Essoe, Precious Chong, Kris Siddiqi

Plot

Michelle (Alex Essoe) meets Linda (Precious Chong) at a yoga class. Linda’s wide-eyed enthusiasm is clearly off-putting, but Michelle’s aversion to conflict makes it difficult for her to brush off the increasingly pushy woman. Things escalate once Linda asks Michelle to redecorate her home and refuses to let her leave.