By Disha Angadi, First Year, Law
What is a home? A seemingly safe space with four walls, a roof and an address. But, what happens when your place of respite becomes the cause of an endless and recurring nightmare, entrapping you completely? Epigram is here to provide you with a list of films that highlight how what we perceive as safe could be more sinister than we could ever imagine.
As another property agent cancels a viewing or a place you and your roommates loved is found to be infested with silverfish, the worries of finding housing weigh you down, turning your mind into a wrestling ground of questions. We are just at the start of a new year and yet we are under this constant anxiety, burdened by the fear of ending up with no options. Feeling perplexed by the constant reminder that, even if we find a place, there is no guarantee that it won’t end up becoming a nightmare given the appalling conditions of housing presently.
Hopefully, when the stress gets too much to bear, these films will serve as a comforting reminder that in all this soul-crushing chaos of house-hunting, you are not alone.
Parasite (2019)
This Oscar-winning film follows the journey of the Kim family who live in a basement home plagued by recurring instances of over-flooding or bug infestation, forcing them to live in extremely poor conditions. This remarkable movie uses the persistent mould and mildew as a thematic device providing powerful social commentary, reflecting that the best quality of homes are accessible to the few and not the many. It achieves this through masterful portrayals of how the inhabitable conditions of their home absorb every aspect of their life, turning every trivial luxury of owning a house into an indomitable pest.
Before our eyes (2024)
A gripping short film by Amnesty International UK, which centers on the human cost that hides behind the facade of the 'perfect home'. It focuses on the story of a mother who pursues a lawsuit to get justice for the death of her infant caused by the hideous amount of black mould in her temporary house. It would be painstakingly familiar to those who have undergone great struggles to find a home just to live in conditions which disregard their safety in every respect.
Motivational Growth (2013)
This dark-comedy horror focuses on a depressed Ian Folivor (Adrian DiGiovanni) whose mental state deteriorates when he begins perceiving the mould in his home as his self-help guru, which seems to instruct him to improve his life. Given his depression, he is unable to leave the dreadful conditions in which he lives. This causes him to be stuck in a constant loop of extreme regret, self-doubt and worthlessness. This is a particularly unsettling, looking into how the deplorable quality of one's home and surroundings can cause the complete derailment of one's psyche.
Dark Water (2005)
The story is based on a mother and daughter who move into a new apartment and how, at first, a supposedly small mould consumes their lives. A poignant look into how housing problems are a symbol of the growing pains which multiply only as time goes on with no end in sight. A relatable tale for those who feel trapped rather than relieved in their homes given the poorly maintained facilities.
Romina Treviño
Will White
Whether it's the social commentary of Parasite, the painstakingly familiar struggle of Before our eyes or the growing pains of a destitute home as seen in Dark Water, every movie provides a realisation that the struggle that we face as students in search of housing are seen and are valid given the agitating conditions which continue to plague us in our pursuit of a home.
Featured Image: Unsplash
So, which of these will you be watching after another break-down over housing?
