[Did this very short review – for India Today – of the new series Homecoming]
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Fans of Brian De Palma’s kinetic thrillers of the 1970s and 1980s will sit up during the opening sequence of the new, 10-episode Amazon Prime show Homecoming. Accompanying a long tracking shot – so characteristic of De Palma’s work – is Pino Donaggio’s sumptuous music score from 1980’s Dressed to Kill. Like the opening scene of that film, the camera looks around a room before moving in towards the lined face of the heroine – in this case, Heidi Bergman (Julia Roberts), who works as a counsellor for a company that helps disoriented soldiers acclimatize to the “normal” world.
There will be other De Palma references in Homecoming’s subsequent episodes: music from Body Double and Carrie (plus a role for Sissy Spacek, who played the lead in the latter), slow zooms, split screens and other sorts of playfulness with framing. Plus a very deadpan, worker-bee-like investigator delightfully played by Shea Whigham – so poker-faced that in some of his scenes, you might be unsure if he is acting at all.
But Homecoming also has its own distinctive way of building a sense of claustrophobia and dread, as it moves between the past (2018) and a present day (2022) where Heidi, having long left her job, is trying to figure out exactly what had happened at the Homecoming centre and why there are so many gaps in her memory. The show does a fine job of capturing the unease of the soldiers – notably Walter (Stephan James), who seems warmly self-aware on the surface, but may have buried memories that need to be plumbed – as well as Heidi’s increasing bewilderment in past and present. Aerial shots are used effectively, showing us room interiors and other spaces with the geometric arrangement of furniture, adding to our sense of the characters as dolls trapped inside a labyrinthine jigsaw puzzle. There are many unsettling scenes involving Heidi’s boss Colin (Bobby Cannavale), who always seems to be on the phone, schmoozing and networking as he runs the facility from behind the scenes.
What does it all add up to, though? No spoilers here except to say that if you’re a seasoned viewer or reader of sci-fi/dystopia, this is familiar territory plot-wise. While you’re watching Homecoming, episode by episode, there’s nothing to fault in the performances
(Roberts has outstanding chemistry with both James and Cannavale), the creation of mood, the touches of unusual black humour (an extended shot of a large pelican strutting about on a desk in a sterile office cabin) and the affectionate harking back to the paranoia-drama-thriller aesthetic of the 1970s. (De Palma apart, there was also an acclaimed 1978 film called Coming Home, about returning soldiers.) But if you were hoping for an earth-shattering twist or revelation in the final episodes, you’ll probably feel that this thriller is a little less than the sum of its parts.
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[Other recent TV show mini-reviews: The Terror; The End of the F***ing World]
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Fans of Brian De Palma’s kinetic thrillers of the 1970s and 1980s will sit up during the opening sequence of the new, 10-episode Amazon Prime show Homecoming. Accompanying a long tracking shot – so characteristic of De Palma’s work – is Pino Donaggio’s sumptuous music score from 1980’s Dressed to Kill. Like the opening scene of that film, the camera looks around a room before moving in towards the lined face of the heroine – in this case, Heidi Bergman (Julia Roberts), who works as a counsellor for a company that helps disoriented soldiers acclimatize to the “normal” world.
There will be other De Palma references in Homecoming’s subsequent episodes: music from Body Double and Carrie (plus a role for Sissy Spacek, who played the lead in the latter), slow zooms, split screens and other sorts of playfulness with framing. Plus a very deadpan, worker-bee-like investigator delightfully played by Shea Whigham – so poker-faced that in some of his scenes, you might be unsure if he is acting at all. But Homecoming also has its own distinctive way of building a sense of claustrophobia and dread, as it moves between the past (2018) and a present day (2022) where Heidi, having long left her job, is trying to figure out exactly what had happened at the Homecoming centre and why there are so many gaps in her memory. The show does a fine job of capturing the unease of the soldiers – notably Walter (Stephan James), who seems warmly self-aware on the surface, but may have buried memories that need to be plumbed – as well as Heidi’s increasing bewilderment in past and present. Aerial shots are used effectively, showing us room interiors and other spaces with the geometric arrangement of furniture, adding to our sense of the characters as dolls trapped inside a labyrinthine jigsaw puzzle. There are many unsettling scenes involving Heidi’s boss Colin (Bobby Cannavale), who always seems to be on the phone, schmoozing and networking as he runs the facility from behind the scenes.
What does it all add up to, though? No spoilers here except to say that if you’re a seasoned viewer or reader of sci-fi/dystopia, this is familiar territory plot-wise. While you’re watching Homecoming, episode by episode, there’s nothing to fault in the performances
(Roberts has outstanding chemistry with both James and Cannavale), the creation of mood, the touches of unusual black humour (an extended shot of a large pelican strutting about on a desk in a sterile office cabin) and the affectionate harking back to the paranoia-drama-thriller aesthetic of the 1970s. (De Palma apart, there was also an acclaimed 1978 film called Coming Home, about returning soldiers.) But if you were hoping for an earth-shattering twist or revelation in the final episodes, you’ll probably feel that this thriller is a little less than the sum of its parts.---------------------------
[Other recent TV show mini-reviews: The Terror; The End of the F***ing World]
What ho, Jai! I haven't seen the series on Amazon yet, but I did listen to the podcast. That seemed like a standard issue military industrial paranoia stuff, albeit with a terrific cast including Catherine Keener in the Julia Roberts role. I thought some of the visual choices for the movie (as I read about them) were interesting, including the high angle overhead shots & the office shots. And considering the series was directed by Sam Esmail of Mr. Robot fame, the sense of paranoia seems to be the effect they were driving for. Anyway, you got me at Brian De Palma, so I shall make sure I get to it soon. A homecoming to Homecoming, maybe?
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