Parents' Guide to

Home Sweet Hell

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Insipid black comedy about suburban materialism and murder.

Movie R 2015 98 minutes
Home Sweet Hell Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 16+

Based on 3 parent reviews

MovieSnake
MovieSnake Adult
December 11, 2020
age 15+

Best movie I've seen in a long time

Best movie I've seen in a long time. It shows characters and their flaws in the way of a Greek tragedy but more true to life than many movies in the same genre. The dialogue and acting is hilariously relatable, which is probably where almost all of the reviews come from, hitting too close to home.
danielles89
danielles89 Adult
August 26, 2020
age 17+

awesome

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Don (Patrick Wilson) and Mona (Katherine Heigl) seem to have the perfect life, perfect home, and perfect relationship. At least it looks that way from the outside, but that's mainly because Mona is obsessed with creating that image and is ruthless about attaining it (she even has a scrapbook called "Our Goals" in which she has her long-term vision planned out). Her plan is threatened when Don is seduced by a new employee, Dusty (Jordana Brewster), and she announces that she's pregnant and is determined to keep the child. For Mona, there's only one way to resolve this complication: She has to make the problem go away, even if it means resorting to murder.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (1):

One of the main problems with this irritating movie is that none of the characters are actually people -- they're all just character traits, people reduced to little more than basic motivations. Dusty is the seductive con artist. Don is a wimp. And Mona, oh horror! Mona is distant and unempathetic, so driven to attain her "goals" that she'll do anything, including dismembering a dead body with a power saw, to attain them. It's amazing Don has never realized before that his uber-controlling wife is a sociopath. (Also, major deductions for throwing OCD sufferers under the bus with this wildly stereotypical portrayal.)

The other main problem is that none of these characters is even remotely likeable. There's nobody here we want to see or hear from, and when bad things start happening to them, it's hard to tell whether the director wants us to feel bad -- or glad that they're getting what they deserve. They all deserve to be punished, but the audience deserves better than this.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the way women are portrayed in Home Sweet Hell. Are the characters of Mona and Dusty well developed? Is there an obligation to have realistic characters in a movie that's purposely exaggerated?

  • How does the impact of the violence in this movie compare to a more traditional horror or action story? Does the fact that the movie is a comedy change how the violence affects you?

  • What is the movie saying about materialism? Is there any kind of positive take-away here?

Movie Details

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