House of Spoils Parent Guide

An ambitious chef (Ariana DeBose) is given the opportunity of a lifetime: the head chef position at a new restaurant in the countryside. But her excitement soon fades when she sees the rundown property that she’s supposed to turn into a fine dining establishment in a matter of months. The dirt and dust are one thing, but the bigger problem is the mysterious phenomena the chef begins seeing, as the property itself seems determined to see her fail.

As someone who is easily spooked, I’m generally not one to enjoy a horror film. Luckily for me, House of Spoils arguably isn’t one. A thriller, sure, but not a horror flick, even though it’s being billed as such. The scares are few and far between, with a whole lot of slow nothingness in between. I think the intention was to build mystery and tension, which is successful in the first act, but fizzles out soon after.

Buried within the glacial pacing and lack of action is the makings of something brilliant. The exploration of the psychology of a chef mixed with feminist messages is a good starting point, but this production fails to stick what should have been an easy landing. Ariana DeBose’s performance is stellar, but even she can’t fill all the empty space around her.

As a certified scaredy-cat, I will say that audiences needn’t worry about the fear level. The gross level is far more concerning, with close up shots of bugs, mold, and people eating. Other content to note is the level of swearing, with 30 F-bombs to contend with. This film won’t appeal to many audiences, as an R rated “horror”, but even genre fans may want to skip it, as doesn’t have the teeth to do much more than a snarl.