movie review of home invasion

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Eye For Film >> Movies >> Home Invasion (2023) Film Review

Home invasion.

Reviewed by: Jennie Kermode

With camera technologies rapidly improving, the last decade has seen a flurry of new films created using all sorts of phones, tablets and similar devices, some of them looking surprisingly good. This is, however, probably the only time you will see a feature length documentary shot with a doorbell. This unusual choice seems to be an effort on the part of filmmaker Graeme Arnfield to centre the emotional experience of peering through a door as he explores the history of doorbells. In combination with repeated doorbell-inspired melodies and the use of fisheye-distorted text as an alternative to narration, it strives to create an atmosphere of discomfort and paranoia. It achieves the former.

Home Invasion screened as part of Docs Ireland 2024 , but if you watch it at home, you may be best to approach it in chapters in order to avoid developing a headache. It lends itself to this quite well, with a narrative which jumps from subject to subject with enthusiasm but doesn’t always succeed in drawing convincing connections between them. It doesn’t present a complete history of the doorbell (there is evidence for them going back as far as the 9th Century) but focuses instead on various technologies associated with efforts to protect the home and its occupants, arguing that this is connected to a fracturing of society and a general tendency towards isolationism, mediated through capitalism. There is also a tangentially related section on the Luddite movement, for which Arnfield deserves praise, not least because most people today are only familiar with the movement from propaganda put about by its opponents, and it’s a rare thing to see it depicted this accurately.

The film has also been pitched as a horror movie, a label which is likely to lead to disappointment. Yes, there is a degree of existential horror inherent in these themes, but no more than one might find associated with any number of popular thrillers. There are also a number of scenes shot in unnecessarily low lighting, but they’re unlikely to send a shiver down your spine. Home Invasion justifiably lays claim to the term ‘experimental’, but otherwise the hype is a problem, distracting from what it does have going for it, which is some entertaining albeit overstretched storytelling.

That storytelling, cut though it sometimes is, meanders wildly. The moral meanings attached to it often let it down, feeling heavy-handed and clumsy. A collection of clips from film about various kinds of home invasion are pleasing mostly because they remind the viewer of better things. There are no surprises amongst them, and quite a few important omissions. Elsewhere, we are treated to sequences of footage recorded by doorbells in situ at various people’s houses, but what they reveal, whilst it might get suburban neighbourhood watch boards on edge, is mostly dull and harmless, telling us only that those who submitted it would go out of their minds within a month of moving into an apartment in the average city.

There are underlying ideas here deserving of exploration, but Arnfield has stretched them far too thin. The result feels more like an anthology of shorts than a single coherent documentary. It reminds us that technological advances can have socially regressive consequences, but who didn’t know that? It’s less evocative of invasion than of that feeling when you run to the door just to find a card claiming you weren’t in, as a delivery driver legs it across the road.

Director: Grame Arnfield

Runtime: 92 minutes

Country: UK

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The 10 Best Home Invasion Movies, Ranked

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An all too possible reality, home invasion movies stir up the double-check the locks, looking-over-your-shoulder paranoia for moviegoers. Not exclusive to horror but often finding a home there, intruder movies thrive off of the nightmarish possibility someone is watching and waiting to strike inside the place audiences are most vulnerable: their home. The home invasion genre isn't just about the physical breach of boundaries for the sake of sadistic violence or financial retribution but also accepting of the psychological intrusion that can occur in addition or as a precursor.

They're hold-your-breath, watch-where-you-step, and you-gotta-run-for-it type films that demand meaningful audience investment and engagement. From notable horror franchises to the "What did I just watch?" titles that so many love, the best home invasion movies prey on the fear of spontaneity and unjustified terror . These films depict the intensified fight-or-flight response and the reality that the only person who can save them is themselves.

10 'The Purge' (2013)

Directed by james demonaco.

A creative take on political horror, the first installment in this popular franchise is by far the best of the series. The titular event is a 12-hour period in which all crime is legal. For James Sandin ( Ethan Hawke ) and his family, it's an unsettling evening, but one where they are protected by a robust security system; however, when an intruder ( Edwin Hodge ) seeking refuge places a target on their backs, the Sandin's fight to survive a murderous mob and avoid turning to the violence they swear to avoid during the annual event.

The Purge takes home invasion to a new level by allowing the crime spree to be completely legal . There's no rescue coming, and the 12-hour countdown is painstakingly slow. The resources available to the Sandins are not afforded to every citizen during the purge, forcing a thought-provoking conversation among audience members that begs the question, "What would you do?" The franchise gained steam with horror audiences over critics, but the first movie remains a terrifying installment in the home invasion genre.

Not available

9 'mother!' (2017)

Directed by darren aronofsky.

A stressful but wild film, Darren Aronofsky 's mother! is a home invasion that forces audiences to connect the dots throughout the entire film, making them work for the light-bulb payoff moment. The film stars Javier Bardem and Jennifer Lawrence as a couple determined to make their rural home paradise. Their peace and tranquility are disrupted when an onslaught of unknown guests descend upon their home, driving Mother (Lawrence) to the edge as her husband (Bardem) revels in the attention.

mother! is, first and foremost, a film about breaking the social contract . Mother's needs are continuously disregarded as her physical and emotional home is invaded by strangers, whereas her husband has no problem with entertaining the unwanted invaders. To truly understand the ending of mother! , audiences will probably require more than one watch, but its allegorical identity makes it the perfect out-of-the-box entry into the genre .

8 'Parasite' (2019)

Directed by bong joon ho.

The title alone is enough to indicate to viewers where this dramatic thriller will take them. The Oscar-sweeping Korean film chronicles the slow integration of the impoverished Kim family into the wealthy Park family's home as they assume various integral roles in the Park's lives, only for it all to come crashing down. Parasite is an atypical home invasion film , but one that belongs in the genre nonetheless.

The Kim family goes to great lengths to manipulate the Parks into hiring them as tutors, the housekeeper, and the driver. One family is desperate to have what they believe the other takes for granted. Greed and the desire to escape poverty are the formulaic motivations for most home invasion thrillers, and Parasite is no different. Through deception, the Kim family invades the physical and emotional barriers of the Park home until , one day, everything comes to a boiling point.

7 'Villains' (2018)

Directed by dan berk & robert olsen.

A home invasion gone wrong...for the intruders, Villains features a reversal of fortunes for horror icons Maika Monroe and Bill Skarsgård in a twisted, comedic horror flick. Fresh off a robbery and on the lam south, Mickey (Skarsgård) and Jules (Monroe) break into a suburban home. They stumble upon the dark secrets of the homeowners, George ( Jeffrey Donovan ) and Gloria ( Kyra Sedgwick ), only to become the hostages bargaining for survival.

An underrated genre blender, Villains amplifies the expectation of the unexpected with the formulaic invasion genre, resulting in one of the best horror movies for Monroe and Skarsgård. Jules and Mickey are enjoyable antiheroes that audiences easily root for, a pair of lovers looking to escape their reality using theft as their means. George and Gloria, however, are the film's deceptive antagonists, with the title provoking audiences to question just who is the villain in this home invasion .

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6 'Us' (2019)

Directed by jordan peele.

A second immaculate entry into filmmaker Jordan Peele 's canon, Us is a haunting invasion thriller that breaches not only the home but also society. Lupita Nyong'o stars as Adelaide, a wife and mother haunted by her past only to be confronted with it as four masked strangers, their appearances mirroring her family, break into her childhood home. As an underground society of body doubles executes its takeover plan, Adelaide must secure her family while harboring a crucial secret. Desperate to escape, the family realizes that the phenomenon is happening across the country.

Us is a psychological horror film that emphasizes the terror of recognizing the faces of the intruders while also embracing an unfathomable departure from reality. It poses more questions than answers ; however, Us allows itself to hinge on the terrifying ambiguity of its intruders, resulting in one of the most inspired entries into the home invasion genre.

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5 'No One Will Save You' (2023)

Directed by brian duffield.

No One Will Save You provided the right home invasion vessel that allowed Kaitlyn Dever to emerge as one of the genre's newest final girls. In a home-invasion meets alien abduction story, community outcast Brynn (Dever) finds peace by receding into introversion in her childhood home. But when a set of questionable noises brings Brynn face-to-face with extraterrestrial beings, the fight for escape and survival is on.

One of the most talked-about horror movies of 2023 , the Hulu original earned divisive reviews, with critics raving and audiences shrugging. Dever's stellar performance, paired with the film's inspirational nods to titles like Signs and Invasion of the Body Snatchers , allowed for a unique mixture of sci-fi and home invasion horror that emphasizes the standard survivalist self-reliance.

No One Will Save You

4 'hush' (2016), directed by mike flanagan.

Before he was terrifying Netflix audiences with literary adaptations, horror master Mike Flanagan delivered this intruder-alert thriller . The underrated Hush stars Kate Siegel as Maddie, a deaf and mute writer who must fight off an intruder at her remote woodland home. It's a chilling, nightmarish entry into the genre, enough to keep any viewer from planning a woodland getaway. Hush is a sensory experience, amplifying sound and movement to place the viewers in Maddie's circumstances.

Unlike other films of a solo heroine fending off an intruder in the woods, Hush succeeds in terrifying without the use of explicit violence or gore. This movie understands that less is more , and the only necessary elements fall between the hunter, the hunted, and the will to survive. Despite putting Flanagan's horror on the mainstream map with its Netflix origins, Hush currently does not have a streaming home, although one is promised in the near future .

Hush is currently not available to stream or buy in the US and Canada.

3 'Don't Breathe' (2016)

Directed by fede alvarez.

Desperate to escape her unstable, impoverished home environment, Rocky ( Jane Levy ) hopes a promising robbery will be her ticket out for her and her little sister. However, their target ( Stephen Lang ) may be blind, but he's a former military man who entraps them in a game of cat-and-mouse. Don't Breathe asks audiences who really is the villain in this scenario, and who is deserving of the punishment they receive.

An incredibly plausible scenario, this heart-pounding thriller earned high praise from audiences, leading to a sequel that didn't live up to the shock factor of the first. It takes skilled and masterful effort to flip the script on home invasions and encourage the audience to sympathize with a trio of robbers . Don't Breathe is one of the films where the audience is wholeheartedly involved and invested, urging Rocky to get out of the house she was so desperate to get into.

Don't Breathe

2 'panic room' (2002), directed by david fincher.

One of the best home invasion movies that's not a horror film, Panic Room is an out-of-body experience with a star-studded cast. Jodie Foster stars as Meg , a divorced mother who recently moved into a new home with her daughter, Sarah ( Kristen Stewart ). What initially seemed like an overboard installation, the home's safe room turned into a life-saving grace when a trio ( Forest Whitaker , Jared Leto , and Dwight Yoakam ) breaks into their home searching for money. Meg and Sarah take refuge in the panic room while they watch the intruders on a display of cameras.

This David Fincher -helmed project takes the home invasion genre to the next level as claustrophobia taps audiences on the shoulder. The film opts for psychological and calculated warfare instead of over-the-top sequences. Panic Room capitalizes exquisitely on the helplessness of circumstance and the battle with time, something seamlessly depicted by Oscar-winner Foster.

1 'The Strangers' (2008)

Directed by bryan bertino.

The epitome of the horror subgenre, The Strangers is the best home invasion movie out there . A weekend getaway starts with a declined engagement for James ( Scott Speedman ) and Kristen ( Liv Tyler ) and ends in a brutal fight for survival. The couple becomes the targets of three masked strangers, violently terrorizing them for hours for no other reason than "Because you were home."

The Strangers is a chillingly realistic film , its premise all too plausible for audiences. It remains the best in the home invasion genre because it can happen to anyone at any time. While other films remove the malice for entertainment, The Strangers requires it to send a message. It was well-received by audiences, garnering two more films. Inspired by true events in director Bryan Bertino 's childhood, this iconic franchise is not one to watch alone and hear the doorbell ring.