User reviews

This was not a "movie" it was clearly a Series Pilot.

As a pilot there can be a lot forgiven, as a movie it was not great.

Zero character development and the "plotting" style of story development is transparent and poorly executed with characters constantly making unnatural choices to move the plot toward predetermined events.

Totally missing is any level of discovery where the characters organically develop, making natural feeling choices that grow the story.

While the highlight opening scene on the ocean was fantastic, it jumped in making it difficult to understand where they were, how they got there, and why they were on their mission. In its own this was ok, being dropped in to the story so abruptly could allow the viewer to build their own narrative about the situation.

However it got worse from here. Who is the owner of the homestead, why has he set it up, what is his background, and how was it funded, perhaps as a series this will be explored over time, but as a movie it made it difficult to understand the core foundation.

Just one of the countless examples, a city official that stops by demanding an accounting of who and what is on the homestead so they could collect taxes, just a few days after the world entered a crisis. Very awkward and unnatural, however this was clearly just a poorly executed plot setup for a later encounter.

I was so looking forward to this "movie". My first red flag was that all the actors are from various television shows. The second red flag was that scene changes were at places that could be commercial breaks. I felt like I was watching a TV show the entire two hours and then the little speech after the credits confirmed my suspicions. It was a decent TV show, but NOT a $15 blockbuster by a long shot. I feel like the marketing was very deceptive as this movie was hyped up as an "action" movie all year long. Considering the values Angel Studios stands on, I was extremely disappointed by the deception. Do better Angel, do better.

I really liked the movie, buy I think it sucks that to find out what happens, you are forced to buy a membeship on Angel Studio app because the rest of it is in a series that can only be watched there. Disappointed!! I am on fixed income and couldn't afford tickets, but thankfully i was able to use the pay it foward and got tickets. Very thankful, just sad now cause I cannot afford to finish watching and see what happens the them. Wish I'd never gone to see it now. Hate watching something I cannot finish. I hope Angel Studio's rethinks this style of movie. Not everyone can affor thier membership.

I appreciate the premise of present day society in an apocalyptic world but unfortunately Homestead left me wanting for a more thought provoking script and a faster pace. Scenes seemed repetitive and I felt bored more than once. It played like a TV series -which it really is. I didn't appreciate the end where they hard pitched me to pay it forward and then I would be rewarded with continuing episodes on TV. When I go to the theatre I want to see a movie that pulls me in with complex characters who depict more of the true human soul and delivers an ending. Being a faith based movie I felt the characters were too cookie-cutter on both sides of good guys and bad guys. This series should have been on TV from the start. I saw Bonhoeffer a few weeks ago - and was hoping Homestead to be on that same level....but not so.

I understand it's hard to make a perfect show on a small budget. Angel Studios and the creators they promote are underdogs against the Hollywood machine. I've really been looking forward to this show because I'm familiar with some of the actors and like them, and the trailer looked interesting. I would say this has a slow start. The feature film, which is really the first episode of the streaming series, is all about the set up for the series as it unfolds. Unfortunately it does jump around a bit. Not much is explained in detail. There is a lot you have to just accept about the story because there are plot points that go unexplained, are contrived or too simplistic. It was tense and it's a thriller. However, I was left feeling more anxious and with a strong sense we are screwed if something like this did happen in real life unless you have the kind of money these people have. The location for filming is the real home of the writer/creator. The home is on the scale of a legitimate fortress created by very wealthy people. Hats off to the cinematography crew because they did get some beautiful shots. This does end up feeling like one long advertisement for the survival gear the creator of the show sells. There is product placement from the gear website. So, even though shows like this should be obvious fiction, you are left feeling like something like this could actually happen and you need to buy these products to get prepared. Most people don't have extra money sitting around to create a fully prepped homestead/fortress. As a Christian I struggle with knowing if I should take action on the fear mongering or if I should just trust God will help when/if the time comes. I did like parts of the show and I do plan to watch the rest of the episodes on the Angel Studios app out of curiosity and because I want to support independent creators. I hope it gets better and has more explanations as the story unfolds. It is an ambitious project. They also have a reality series which further underscores the creators belief we all need to be prepping for a future disaster/ government collapse.

Ok, if you watch the trailer like me, you're probably thinking this is some post-apocalypse action pack movie. However, it is not, the movie is really more drama. There are pretty much no actions in it. So I thought I give you a heads up.

This film is also a pilot for something, maybe a series or maybe a minisaga like Horizon as others have mentioned. So it is somewhat slow and it focuses on a lot of characters. It also means by the end of the film, some issues with these characters are not resolved.

So what I like about the film. Well, first it is beautifully filmed. But I also like the subject matter. It is a faith film, I would say, especially the ending they just outright say it. But even in the middle, there were subtle references to faith, God, love, etc...

I think some people may view this through political lenses, especially with the refugees outside the gates. But I think that's just people want to see what they want to see. The comparison is not accurate as these were not strangers, they were their friends and neighbors. So this is more reflective of biblical teaching of loving your neighbors and the contrast of selfishness and looking out for yourself in a survival situation vs helping others and risking it on God.

I like the ending, about going "all in" with God, and trusting in faith over numbers. That's really powerful.

6/10.