Homestead brings it to where you live
Okay, the Average Dude will openly admit a couple of things right out of the gate…I was really looking forward to Homestead AND the Average Dude absolutely has been preparing for the possibility of a total economic collapse. There, I said it. Not that I would consider myself a Prepper (capital P). But yeah, I looked at the social and political landscape of the past decade and felt that taking a few precautions was a responsible decision. Taking care of the Average Family is a priority.
Imagination is a two-edged sword
Coming out this Christmas is Homestead, a dark imagination of a very possible future. The latest release from Angel Studios, Homestead stars veteran actor Neal McDonough, who is a staple of many Angel Studio movies and never disappoints. McDonough plays Ian Ross, a wealthy land owner who long ago saw the writing on the wall and created a self-sustaining lifestyle tucked away in the mountains (Rockies, I think?). When the nuclear SHTF (look it up), Ian calls his family and close friends home to roost, along with a cadre of ex-military ‘security’ personnel to help him keep his loved ones safe.
You’re in my world now, soldier
The leader of the ex-mils is Jeff Eriksson (Baily Chase), who brings nearly a dozen of his select operatives (and his melded family) to Homestead. Eriksson is in his element here and finds that a part of his job is to convince Ian – who is in semi-denial – that the world everyone knew is now gone. Hard choices will need to be made if Homestead is going to survive.
Adding to Ian’s troubles is his tender-hearted wife, Jenna (Dawn Olivieri), who is of the opinion that surviving isn’t good enough if you have to let your friends (or strangers) suffer. Jenna wants Ian to open the gates of Homestead and let the refugees in. In Ian’s mind, the math just doesn’t work, the supplies and replenishable yieldage can’t take the added mouths. And Ian must protect his family…at all costs. Hard choices indeed.
Kids will be kids, even during the apocalypse
There are multiple character arcs frolicking in the end-of-days story of Homestead. Teenagers gonna be teenagers, young love and all that. Puppies make everything better. Power dynamics. Family struggles. Wrestling with spirituality. Logic vs faith. Everything exacerbated by fear of a new, dark reality. The house of cards outside the gates is falling, and all hope is centered on Homestead.
The Good and Bad, minus the Ugly
My point: Homestead does a really decent job of exploring the changing landscape of an America collapsing. It drives home, in gentle fashion, how amazingly fortunate we are in this country. Also, how much we take for granted and how incredibly unprepared we are to truly take care of ourselves and our own. However, it does so from a vantage point that almost none of us can identify with.
Homestead is the story of a very wealthy family who has prepared for a collapse that some say is inevitable. And therein is the rub… almost none of us have the resources of the Ross family. We can’t afford sprawling estates in the mountains. We don’t have the hours in a day to maintain agrigulture on those non-existing estates. We don’t have connections with private security forces to come and keep us safe. In the minds of Preppers, it’s a fantasy come to the big screen. All their forsight and plans and wisdom paying off.
For everyone else, it’s a reminder that, in a SHTF scenario, pretty much no one is prepared. And honestly, Homestead doesn’t take it far enough. Bleak as it is, Homestead doesn’t really show the brutal decent into inhumanity that a collapse like this would be for the 99.9% of America. In short, it misses the mark.
The Divinity Factor
Homestead incorporates an element of God With Us, which is a mainstay of every Angel Studios film I’ve seen. It provides the ray of hope and faith and trust that God requires of His people, albeit sort of as an afterthought. And because of that, the impact of the miraculous was somewhat muted. IMO, another missed opportunity.
In the end, I found Homestead entertaining in a way that Civil War wasn’t. Where Civil War was just bleak, Homestead brought an element of hope. And my takeaway there was that, even though I possess not even close to the level of resources as the Ross family, I can still help those in need. I can’t save them all. But that doesn’t absolve me from helping who and where I can. And I still need to trust that God will provide.
So, all things considered, The Average Dude is giving Homestead* a solid 3.7 out of 5. God save us all from such a day as this. If that’s not to be, God grant us the courage to see and give hope.
*I’ve also watched the first two episodes of Homestead: The Series, which picks up right where the movie leaves off. I’ll be excited to see this post-apolcalyptic show through to the end, however that plays out.
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