Ingrid Garcia-Jonsson

(In French, On Cable TV, April 2021) The more I watch lower-profile horror films (that is: those that never stood a chance of theatrical distribution in North America — straight-to-video, steaming exclusives, festival favourites and foreign productions), the more my expectations run low. Ironically, this can work to some films’ advantage — those that manage to rise above low expectations, usually through execution rather than concept. There isn’t anything startlingly new about Sweet Home, for instance. Most of it takes place in a near-abandoned building, as a young woman decides to use the place for a romantic tryst. Bad idea — there’s an effort underfoot to empty the building by all means necessary, and that includes anyone trying to have fun in the abandoned units. On paper, Sweet Home feels like many, many similar films, with a couple of protagonists trying to survive while trapped in a big empty building. But director Rafa Martínez has a pretty good understanding of how to play with familiar elements, and above-average cinematography does help make the film interesting to watch. Ingrid Garcia-Jonsson anchors the film as its resourceful damsel-in-distress, effectively selling both the initial vulnerability and the eventual ferocity of the role. An overly long climax is a bit of a blemish (by this time, everything feels familiar all over again), but much of Sweet Home works well in the kind of entertaining gorier-than-average thriller that fills up an evening without making too many demands on its viewers.