From director George Ratliff and writer David Levinson comes the psychological-horror, Welcome Home. The film stars Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul, Gone Girl actress Emily Ratajkowski, and the promising talent of Riccardo Scamarcio (The Woman in White, Master of None & John Wick: Chapter 2).
Synopsis:
Desperate to reignite the spark in their once passionate relationship, Bryan (Aaron Paul) and Cassie (Emily Ratajkowski) rent a secluded villa in the Italian countryside. However, their romantic weekend is immediately threatened when Cassie befriends a handsome local stranger, Federico, filling Bryan with jealousy. As Federico gets closer to Cassie, he begins to take advantage of the young couple's growing mistrust, turning them against each other. Soon Bryan and Cassie find themselves caught in a deadly and voyeuristic game of cat and mouse, discovering that the person you love the most may be the person you can trust the least.
Relationships can be fraught with difficulties and complications. This isn’t anything new, but sometimes couples face adversity that may be seemingly impossible to recover from. Possibly one of the toughest (as far as “forgive & forget” is concerned anyway) might be infidelity. This is exactly the turmoil that the young couple in Welcome Home is enduring at the beginning of the film.
Bryan and Cassie, (played by Aaron Paul & Emily Ratajkowski) having just flown into a small town in Italy, are renting the home of a local resident in an attempt to reconnect with each other. I couldn’t decide if they were running away from the problem or running to the resolution, but I was soon pleased to realize that they were just as unsure about that as I was. Both characters are carefully fleshed out and I found them to be both realistically written and believably portrayed. What unfolds is a very well acted drama about a relationship in peril that then evolves into a frantic and tension building suspense thriller.
The very small cast of this film helps to focus your attention in a way I have rarely seen, and those supporting members are brilliantly cast. The movie builds but it doesn’t feel like a slow burn. By the start of the third act, you think you know where you are and where you’re going…but don’t be so sure. I found this picture engaging as a relationship drama, perhaps that is why it ultimately also works as a suspense thriller. The climax delivers with a twist and will give you pause, possibly creeping you out so much that you may want to burrow into the ground for a while. See the picture! Welcome Home is currently available on DIRECTV and will be available in theaters and On Demand starting November 16.
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