“Homemade” Netflix Review by Brooke Daugherty : Pop Culture Leftovers

“Homemade” Netflix Review by Brooke Daugherty

July 6, 2020 10:31 am |

Confined at home as a consequence of the COVID-19 outbreak, filmmakers created personal, moving stories that capture our shared experience of life in quarantine.

Netflix’s Homemade boasts “Short films made in isolation from around the world.” Seventeen short films ranging from 4 to 12 minutes ensure something for everyone. Director Pablo Larraín produced the series under his production company Fábula. He also contributed episode four, Last Call, about a lonely old man in a Chilean nursing home.

Several episodes dealt with real life in lockdown. Clichy-Montfermil, by Cannes Film Festival winner Ladj Ly, shows drone’s eye view of life in Montfermeil, France. Rachel Morrison wrote a poem to her five year old son about living in Los Angeles through the COVID-19 pandemic in The Lucky Ones. Ferosa was directed by David MacKenzie wrote it with his daughter, Ferosa, about life in Scotland after the pandemic. In Mexico, Johnny Ma filmed a letter to his mother back in China who will most likely never see it. Bend It Like Beckham director, Gurinder Chadha, directed Unexpected Gift, a look at London life in lockdown with her family and primarily driven by her children. Ana Lily Amipour filmed herself riding her bike through empty Los Angeles streets in Ride It Out and yes, that is Cate Blanchett narrating. Composer Khaled Mouzanar, credited for directing with wife Nadine Labak, was sitting in his office late one night when his daughter Mayroun barged in and began to improvise what became Mayroun and the Unicorn.

Other episodes show fictional depictions of isolation. Voyage Au Bout De La Nuit, Directed by Paolo Sorrentino follows Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Francis in quarantine at the Vatican, performed by stand-in souvenir statues and voice actors. Couple Splits Up While In Lockdown LOL is a series of texting conversations between a couple who have broken up and their friends directed by Rnugano Nyoni.

What pandemic short list would be complete without episodes of people trying to stay entertained or going off the deep end? Jacinta is a lonely little girl trying to keep herself busy in Espacios, directed by the child’s mother Natalia Beristáin. Sebastian Schipper wrote, directed and starred in Casino, a story of a man descending into madness, over a weekend of isolation in Berlin. Kristen Stewart, best known for the Twilight films, shows off her acting abilities as a woman who is either sleep deprived or dreaming in Crickets. Sebastián Lelio wrote and directed Algoritmo, a music video of sorts with a woman singing about the pandemic’s effect on humanity.

The other episodes don’t exactly fit into the other categories. Last Message is a surreal look at a Japanese boy who discovers the value of life after finding out people are left on earth directed by Naomi Kawase. Peter Sarsgaard stars as a man learning to live through a mysterious virus that has claimed half a million people in Penelope; written and directed by his wife Maggie Gyllenhaal. Antonio Campos directed probably the creepiest episode on the list with Annex-don’t ask, just watch.

Overall I really enjoyed the films. My favorites being Voyage Au Bout De La Nuit and Casino. There were a couple I couldn’t fully get behind, and particularly the venture between Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard had a moment or two I didn’t need to make it work. All are rated MA for Nudity, but Annex is the only one that shows a naked behind. With automatic play of the next episode, I assume it is just a precaution. I give this the HIGHEST of Taste Its, with several individual episodes being Tupperwares.

PCL Rating: High Taste It

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH 🍅