Home (2016)

Directed by: Fien Troch | 103 minutes | drama | Actors: Karlijn Sileghem, Lena Suijkerbuijk, Loïc Bellemans, Sebastian Van Dun, Natali Broods, Katelijne Verbeke, Els Dottermans, Robbie Cleiren, Mistral Guidotti, Els Deceukelier, Thomas Van Caeneghem, Tom Audenaert, Jeroen Perceval, Stefaan De Winter, Jan Hammenecker, Kevin Janssens

After a juvenile detention, seventeen-year-old Kevin (Sebastian van Dun) is accepted into the stable family of his cousin Sammie (Loïc Batog). We learn very little about Kevin. Apparently something with aggravated assault, we see a violent video on a phone, but the introverted Kevin is silent. Is he a sensitive boy or a psychopath? You see Sammie’s mother (Els Borremans) doubting in an interested way. ‘Let’s Talk About Kevin’ in Flanders? That would be too easy; although you might frown at the main character’s name, ‘Home’ is strong enough to perform on its own. It is a film about teenagers and the divide with adults, in a prosperous country where appearances play a major role and existential problems such as loneliness cannot be prevented.

Flanders, in other words, has a more formal habitat than the Netherlands – just like all our neighboring countries. We are happier here for a reason. In ‘Home’ you see teenagers like ours, parents and teachers like ours, but on the outside. For there is a deep sense of unbridgeability, and behind every front door lurks an unspoken problem. Spoiled Sammie dominates his mother, his best friend John (Mistral Guidotti) has a mother with BPD and girlfriend Lina (Lena Suijkerbuijk) is attracted to the bony Kevin, but is not allowed to hang out with him. A lot happens in ‘Home’ and then again not. Not so important, because Troch has succeeded in documenting the lives of such teenagers and the dynamics of their problems in a successful way.

The result of a careful casting process, which started with an investigation into the ‘life world of today’s young people’ and with appeals in schools, youth associations and cultural platforms. About three hundred young people were invited for a first round. From these, the teenage actors were eventually selected. An excellent character actress like Els Dottermans can play a key role. Troch’s cinematic qualities (temporisation and camera work) are also necessary for enjoying ‘Home’, but the decisive factor is that she allows teenagers to act in a situational way. Violence, deceit and betrayal (we won’t reveal anything) in teenagers are not acts that arise from badness, but from the dynamics of situations. They just happen. Troch makes it happen.