The supernatural horror film Home Sweet Home: Rebirth, starring Michele Morrone and William Moseley, deals with the lengths one is willing to go to protect their family. Set in Thailand, the film is unconvincing and too juvenile to be taken seriously. Although it is based on the video game Home Sweet Home, in this article we focus exclusively on its narrative.
Jake and Prang travel to Bangkok with their young daughter, Loo, to spend time with Prang's mother, whom Loo would be meeting for the first time. Prang was excited to introduce her daughter to the city where she grew up. Although she expected it to be an unforgettable family vacation, she was disappointed to see Jake busy on his phone. He was a police officer and had brought his work gear with him. The situation turned dangerous when the family went to a shopping mall and suddenly, a man started shooting people at random. What did the man want? Will Jake and his family survive? Let's find out.
Directors: Steffen Hacker, Alexander Kiesl
Stars: Michele Morrone, William Moseley, Urassaya Sperbund
As a police officer, Jake believed it was his duty to protect the common people of the mall from the demented shooter. Surprisingly, the moment Jake killed the shooter, he mentioned that the ritual was finally over. Before he died, or rather, exploded, the shooter mentioned that he knew the Guardian would be at the mall, and therefore, his plan had succeeded. This wasn't the first time someone had referred to Jake as the Guardian. Earlier that morning, Jake crossed paths with a monk who told him he was the Guardian of the Gates and that he would soon face extreme challenges and lose everything. But in the darkness, he would find light, and in that light, he would find the love of his family. Jake didn't understand what the monk had said, and he was equally confused when the shooter called him the Guardian. Jake died in the explosion, and his spirit was transferred to the Obstacle. It was a realm between Hell and Heaven, a place where those who had strayed went. The spirits who ended up in the Obstacle were held responsible for their actions. Jake eventually deduced that he had been held there because he had been so busy with work that he hadn't fulfilled his duty to his family, something he should have valued more in life.
Jake ran into the monk at the Obstacle. The monk, Chan, had been waiting for him because he knew of the crucial role the policeman would play in closing the Gates of Hell. He explained that the shooter Jake encountered at the mall was Mek, an evil being who served Chan's father. And by shooting him, Jake had completed the blood ritual necessary to open the Gates of Hell, through which the demons of Hell had entered the mortal world and begun possessing the weak and stealing their souls. Chan's father, Wichien, was the one who orchestrated everything. Wichien was powerless in the mortal world, so he needed Mek's help. He had been a monk before becoming a necromancer. He was desperate for power, and as a result, he ended up stealing two crucial fragments of his master's scriptures. One was the Arch-Eternity Scripture, while the other was the Soul Absorption Scripture. Since Wichien hadn't been trained to read the scripture, it had begun to affect him physically. When he realized his body was abandoning him, Wichien wanted to use his knowledge to occupy another body and take it for himself. His first victim was Chan, who was very young at the time. Fortunately, his mother intervened and rescued Chan before it was too late. It was then that Wichien's soul was exiled from the mortal world, but Chan was blessed with the knowledge his father had gathered. Wichien wanted evil to rule the physical realm, so he tasked his servants with doing the job for him.
According to Chan, since Jake's mother died in childbirth, he was essentially born into death, and since it occurred on the night of the blood moon, Jake was destined to one day become the Guardian of Hell. With each soul captured in the mortal world, Wichien grew more and more powerful, and only Jake could prevent this. Before he could close the Gates of Hell, he must destroy Mek. Although Jak had shot him, he lacked the tools to completely destroy him. As a result, Mek returned to the physical world and chose Jake's body as his vessel. This meant that Mek resembled Jake, making it easier for him to blend in and convince Jake's family that he was the Jake they knew. Since Jake was already dead, his spirit also needed a vessel to travel to the mortal world. Jake was shocked to find himself in another man's body, but he had no other choice.
His goal was to rescue his family from Mek, but unfortunately, he was too late. Mek, played by Jake, convinced Prang and Loo to follow him. By the time Jake arrived at the hotel room where his family was staying, they were gone. Chan discovered a crudely sketched map leading to the Gates of Hell. Meanwhile, Jake heard his daughter's voice and followed her to the hotel basement. Prang and Loo didn't recognize him, and when he and Mek got into a fight, Prang grabbed the antique flintlock pistol with summoning bullets that Chan had given Jake, which he was carrying to kill Mek. But unfortunately, Prang assumed Mek (in Jake's body) was her husband, and ended up shooting the real Jake (who was in the body of a Thai man).
When Jake woke up, he was back in the Obstacle, but luckily Chan treated his wound before things could get any worse. As soon as he regained consciousness, Chan ordered Jake to prepare to close the Gates of Hell. Following the hand-drawn map, Chan and Jake arrived at the place where Chan believed his father, along with his followers, would gather for the final opening of the gates on the other side. Jake, for the first time, saw the Gates of Hell, a gigantic portal of fire. For Jake, the mission was personal: he had to rescue Prang and Loo. Mek had forced Jake's family to reach the Gates of Hell because they carried the blood of the Gatekeeper, and it was crucial to completing the opening of the gate.
Just as Wichien was about to stab Loo with a dagger, his father came to the rescue, this time in another vessel. But this time, Loo immediately recognized his father. Using the nona metal knife Chan had given him, Jake annihilated one follower after another. While Jake focused on fighting Wichien's loyal servant, Mek, Prang managed to free himself from the grasp of a follower and shot Wichien with the ancient flintlock pistol when he attempted to stab Loo again. At the end of "Home Sweet Home Reborn", Prang handed the ancient flintlock pistol to Jake, who used it to shoot Mek. Eventually, the evil entity collapsed to the ground and was transferred to the Trap, where his spirit was instantly shattered, and that was the end of the loyal servant. Chan eventually confronted his father, and although he was forbidden to use violence, Jake was under no such obligations.
He used the metal knife nona to stab Wichien, but before disintegrating, he warned Jake that in order to close the Gates of Hell, he would have to pass through them, which meant he was destined to be sent to Hell. Jake didn't have much of a choice; He would be trapped in the Trap, constantly feeling guilty for having been able to save his family from the demons who had entered the mortal world, but he chose not to, fearing it would mean the end. So Jake decided to show courage and said goodbye to his family, promising to find a way to return to them. Chan also promised he would try to find a solution to save Jake, but for now, going through Hell was his only option. He knew Jake would find a way back; after all, his journey was just beginning. Jake crossed the Gates of Hell and, through his sacrifice, set the world right.
In the finale of Home Sweet Home: Rebirth, the demons finally left the mortal world and all evil was contained. Prang and Loo reunited with Prang's mother on the outskirts. While it seemed like everything had finally fallen into place, the final scene suggests that perhaps not all is over. A woman wearing a long leather coat and high boots arrived at the location of the Gates of Hell. Although the Gates were closed, she seemed to possess enough power to reopen them. The ending suggests that Jake will have to face more battles that he desperately needs to win to contain the evil. We can look forward to a sequel featuring the new character.
Comments
Post a Comment