Well. Talk about putting the short in short film.

The Home is a brief 7-minute short film (including opening and closing credits). I originally was pulled to watch this because of Alex Essoe, whose performance I really enjoyed in Starry Eyes. But this film really leaves a lot to be desired.

In a small convent in Ireland, a group of pregnant women are getting ready to go to sleep that night. Their Father tells them to blow out the candles for the night when one of the women begins to talk about the trowie, saying that they’re coming for the babies.

The other women ask the girl to be quiet. Then they hear a noise – the sound of the Father being attacked by something. One brave girl (Essoe) gets out of bed and sees a creature eating a body. She runs away and finds that all the other mothers are missing from their beds – and she’s next victim.

I like short films. But above is the entirety of those seven minutes. The best short films manage to make you feel something that the crew has managed to build in those few minutes. Sometimes short films are even the best way to tell horror stories. But man oh man… The Home doesn’t do this.

It doesn’t do much of anything other than just look really great. Weirdly, even the synopsis on IMDB has more drama to it: “Set in a small, isolated 19th century Irish home for unwed mothers, a young pregnant woman must fight for her survival as the home falls siege to a group of mysterious invaders.” Where’s THAT story? If there had even been a spared minute or two of telling a story about the fairies to build an unease it would have at least been something.

There’s none of that, kids. And maybe there should have been. Heck, I don’t even know if I can say I disliked it. There just wasn’t much there at all.

And just one annoyance from someone who likes Irish and Scottish folklore.

Now if you’re not familiar, the trow or trowie is a fairy in Scottish folklore. They’re mischievous and love music, but here they’re malevolent baby-killing creatures.  And if you’ll notice, I said Scottish (specifically the Orkney and Shetland Islands) NOT Ireland. Minor, I know, but why even call the monster Trowies if you’re not even going to bother getting anything right?

Watch The Home anyway. It wouldn’t be a waste of time.