HOMEBOUND(2025)

Homebound is a powerful indictment of modern-day India with rich character drama and a personal character piece at the forefront. Themes of religious and caste discrimination are explored in Homebound.

Ghaywan's films focus on the exploitation and suffering of marginalized people deemed outside of the normative society. In Homebound, religious discrimination is linked to caste discrimination, with the rise in Islamophobia in modern-day India.

Homebound is a more cynical film, suggesting that people are perpetually trapped in systems and institutions designed to oppress them and strip them of their basic rights systemically. It suggests there is no liberation or catharsis.

This systemic exploitation carries over in Homebound's treatment of COVID-19. The pandemic led to the government's abandonment of its migrant and vulnerable workers, with no secure and safe systems.

Homebound links the suffering of marginalized people with the coronavirus, which provides an effective metaphor. The imagery of a crowd of migrant workers permeates throughout the film.

Homebound feels like a piece of 40s neorealist cinema with its documentarian and grounded tone, with modern India serving as the backdrop to a powerful character piece. Overall, Homebound is timely and socially relevant.

Technically, Homebound is documentarian and minimalist in its tone. Handheld shots, soft focus, overhead shots, and an epic scale define the realist cinematography. The acting conveys layers, outbursts, chemistry, and a lived-in authenticity.

Smash cuts and jump cuts define the editing, providing a rhythm to the narrative. The minimalist score allows for a stripped-down and grounded narrative. Risers, mechanical sounds, and ambience define the naturalistic soundscape, accentuating the tone.

The lived-in production design strives for authenticity through village landscapes, urban Indian towns, run-down apartments, and village homes. The casting provides a great fit and diversity in their varied roles, and the lack of star power accentuates the realist and documentarian approach.

The visual effects, while minimal, employ crowd shots and body liquids and offer a sense of scale and size to the narrative. Overall, Homebound is a piece of 2020's neorealist cinema that remains aggressively minimalist and documentarian.

Writing: 10/10

Direction: 10/10

Cinematography: 9/10

Acting: 10/10

Editing: 9/10

Score: 8/10

Sound: 9/10

Prod Design: 10/10

Casting: 9/10

Effects: 6/10

Overall Score: 9.0/10