Last Updated on October 4, 2024 by
House of Spoils is a 2024 Horror Movie Directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy. The film stars Ariana DeBose, Barbie Ferreira, and Arian Moayed, with a runtime of 1h 41M, and will be released on October 3, 2024.
House of Spoils, just like the food they served, is a delicious story that combines witchcraft folklore and features Ariana DeBose where watching the movie is a cinematic experience. Co-directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy, the film is a natural fit for psychological horror as well as the stress and competitiveness of owning a restaurant. Nonetheless, one gets the feeling that the movie could’ve been more profound and astonishing instead of just containing fantastic ideas and some moments. Now, let the readers unravel the plot, protagonists, and motifs of the film.
Ariana DeBose plays the inspiring and career-oriented character of a chef who struggles with difficult situations in the kitchen. She gives up a glamorous life in New York City and pursues a chance of a lifetime at a small upstate restaurant. It also entails giving up her stable and fulfilling position and a supportive supervisor figure, Marcello, portrayed by Marton Csokas.
Partnering up with her new colleague, Andres (Arian Moayed), she realizes that the restaurant is located in a haunted house full of mysteries. Abo DeBose’s character is full of passion for her career and dreams big; there is a notion that she wanted to make a menu so delicious that people will travel for miles just to taste the food that she prepares.
However, her dream transforms into a nightmare as she will encounter problems she never anticipated like the formation of mold in the kitchen and strange individuals lurking in nearby forests. These obstacles represent what she has to face to succeed. In the film, when an important investor’s preview goes wrong, Andres offers her a rather short probation period of a mere two weeks in which she has to perform, or else she will be fired. This ticking clock complicates and enhances the tension of the plot.
As DeBose begins to experience the pressure of the restaurant business, the audience gets to know the history of the land. Various folklores depict a group of female witches who used to reside in the locality, and rumors of the witchcraft can be heard in the movie. The audience is left wishing to know how these supernatural elements could affect the culinary adventures of DeBose.
Right from the onset of House of Spoils, one is fully immersed in the issues of witchcraft and women suffering in the patriarchal world of fashion. There is an introduction of an eerie character that is preparing something with animal body parts creating suspense. This type of imagery strikes a rather horrific note in juxtaposition to the glamour of preparing food as evidenced by DeBose’s character sizzling a steak at a restaurant kitchen. The themes of glamour and the decay of beautiful foods represent what she has to go through and what she has to lose.
In the course of the story, the setting of the kitchen changes into the view of the real battle. Big pots start to look like witches’ brew kettles and the character of DeBose starts to change drastically. She transforms from a robotic, ‘yes, chef’ character, obsessed with detail, into a passionate cook. This increment can be attributed to her attachment to the land and the fresh produce she puts in her recipes. The film very rightly portrays the interconnection that prevails between the chef and the food, the art of cooking, and how it is used to feed the body and the soul.
DeBose is a great leading lady as she portrays the pressures and high levels of aggression that come with managing a restaurant as a woman in a man’s world. The conflict between Luz and Andres is tense and despite their amicable relationship, their arguments are full of tension and zesty confrontations because he is rational and business-minded.
He pushes her to meet high expectations while also adding to her stress, creating an interesting dynamic that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats.
Her best friend, portrayed by Barbie Ferreira, is an enthusiastic sous-chef who reflects a positive attitude and camaraderie. Early on, she becomes a source of comfort and turns into more of a maternal figure as DeBose_sr. fight her own internal battle on the issues of gender and competition in the workplace. Altogether, they symbolize friendship and camaraderie in a difficult post, which are valuable lessons for those who are willing to join the sisterhood.
There are numerous discussions about the fact that women have to struggle for fewer spots in the culinary profession and this results in competition. These are the themes the movie addresses while incorporating the horror appeal, thus providing the viewers with food for thought.
First and foremost, the House of Spoils stands out in the cinematization of cookery, which has lately become a genre akin to other films, such as The Menu and The Bear. The movie sequence features and presents the art of preparing food and at the same time shows the grime and mayhem of the kitchen. The pressure of fast movement while cutting vegetables and detailed work while placing the meals also helps the audience become part of the world of food.
The cinematography is superb: delectable plates of delicious meals contrast with the scene of spoiled food one wants to see. This gives the audience that feeling of fear and apprehension, and the audience is immediately aware that beauty is not far from harm. To enhance the dramatic tension, the directors make good use of lights, angles, and focus on the kitchen which is represented as alive and on the brink of the supernatural.
Relatively, the House of Spoils functions to achieve some level of prestige, but in doing so, it appears lacking in some respects. Prime has teamed up with Blumhouse Television to provide viewers with humor rather than horror, as the company offers more psychological thrills than chills. Nonetheless, it might be safe to say that the movie is a movie that hits the notes of what can be considered as community, nature, and womanhood but there are times that it borders on mediocrity rather than horror.
Nonetheless, House of Spois is still a fascinating narrative of DeBose’s character, who can convey the depth of feelings together with an intriguing story connected with food. Despite not bringing the gross horror that some people might have anticipated, it gives a good story that comes with earthly taste and an important message of overcoming and finding oneself. What the film can offer its audience is an ample number of themes based on food, nature, and the place of women in a competitive world that will leave the viewers with a lot of food for thought even after the final credits.
House of Spoils 2024 Parents Guide Age Rating
House of Spoils is rated R by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for language and some violent content.
