I Don’t Feel at
Home in This World Anymore is quite a long title for a movie, and it can be
very distracting, maybe even turning you off at first, making it hard to want
to watch. But if you do, you’ll discover that the movie is not half bad.
It’s not one of
those missed masterpieces, but for me, its dark comedy and weird undertones
were well-directed, not wearing you out. The characters carry heavy burdens—too
much for anyone to bear—and that made the movie enjoyable enough to see it
through to the end. Watching the lead and her neighbor struggle with the idea
that people have chosen to be cruel to one another in this world is a silly
endeavor, but it’s fun to see play out.
The movie
introduces us to the lead, Ruth (Melanie Lynskey), who is a nurse. After a
weird day, she gets home to find out her house has been burgled. She calls the
police, and they notice that she left her back door open, which made it easy
for the burglars to just walk in and take her stuff.
Upset by her
lack of responsibility for her actions, the detective on her case gently scolds
her for being careless. Even though he did it gently, the message was passed,
and Ruth didn’t like it. When she went for a follow-up on her case, the
detective told her plainly they had better things to do than look for items
that someone lost because they left their door open.
She meets her
weird, aggressive neighbor Tony (Elijah Wood), who becomes annoyed when she
tells him about the incident. When Ruth is able to locate her laptop through
tracking (because the thieves didn’t format it), she reaches out to Tony for
help as she proceeds to get her laptop and other stuff back.
This leads us
down a path of unknown circumstances and unbelievable consequences, which are
best left for you to see for yourself.
In the end, the
movie didn’t feel like a drag. Once you get past the first seven minutes (if
you’re interested in the plot above), you’ll be able to go all the way. When it
comes to acting, there’s nothing bad to say about it. As usual, Elijah Wood
gets to play the odd character, something he seems to have mastered. Everyone
else did what they were paid for.
Writer and
director Macon Blair, for me, delivered a watchable film for his directorial
debut. So if you’re looking for something to watch on Netflix during this
COVID-19 lockdown, here’s a movie you can try.
0 comments:
Post a Comment