I think the best thing I can say about Macon Blair’s debut as writer-director is that it’s a curiosity. For years he’s been a game regular as an actor in grisly genre fare (collaborations with Jeremy Saulnier stand out) and now he helms a story about a serious overreaction to a burglary. Melanie Lynskey (still amazing two decades after HEAVENLY CREATURES) is our grounded but increasingly disturbed protagonist and Elijah Wood gives good weirdo. While I’ve got no problem with the premise or the central performances the tone of the thing that’s the problem, with the supposedly sinister villains coming across as cartoony and a refreshingly shambolic shootout scene at the end quickly giving way to an unnecessary chase and a muddy (or swampy if we’re being literal) conclusion. As a show of Blair’s artistic potential, I DON’T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE is admirable and pretty unique, but as a fully satisfying finished film, I’m not so sure.
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About SSP
Sam Sewell-Peterson
I'm not paid to write about film - I do it because I love it. Favourite filmmakers include Bong Joon-ho, Danny Boyle, the Coen Brothers, Nicolas Winding Refn, Clio Barnard, Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Verhoeven, Taika Waititi and Edgar Wright. All reviews and articles are original works written and owned by me. They represent one man's opinion, and I'm more than happy to engage in civilised debate if you disagree.
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