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‘Homestead’ Review: A Gripping Post-Apocalyptic, Faith-Based Melodrama — With a Bait-and-Switch Ending
Ben Smallbone's post-apocalyptic, faith-based 'Homestead' pulls off strong performances — but has a twist that may leave some viewers off-put.
Ian Ross (Neal McDonough), a wealthy prepper for a cataclysm that would disrupt the social order, has constructed Homestead: a fortress-like mansion on a large spread in the Rocky Mountains where he, his family, and a dozen or so employees intend to ride out any upheaval. Working from a satisfyingly plausible screenplay by Phillip Abraham, Leah Bateman and Ben Casica, which they adapted from the “Black Autumn” book series by Jeff Kirkham and Jason Ross, director Ben Smallbone(“Priceless”) does a fine job of amping the credibility quotient with smart details and minor characters, including an unseen ham radio operator who serves as a sporadic Greek chorus, a local bureaucrat who unwisely demands that Ian continue to follow deed restrictions and pay fees and a character who wonders aloud why, considering the power outages, they ever chose to buy a Tesla. Among the other dangling plot threads: A survivor who literally goes off his meds providing unreliable testimony, and a budding romance between Ian’s not-entirely sheltered home-schooled daughter Claire (Olivia Sanabia),and Jeff’s slightly more worldly son Abe (Tyler Lofton).
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