Aaron Paul is the name on everyone’s lips at the moment with the news that Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan is considering making a film based on his character, Jesse Pinkman. So it’s with great interest that we watched Paul’s most recent offering, the psychological thriller, ‘Welcome Home’, which sees him starring alongside model and actress, Emily Ratajkowski.
Aaron Paul and Emily Ratajkowski (‘Gone Girl’) play Bryan and Cassie, a very photogenic couple from the US who are having relationship troubles, later revealed to be because Cassie drunkenly cheated on Bryan after a work function. Add into the mix the fact that Bryan’s work sees him glued to his phone, and the pair met on Tinder in the first place, and you already have a lot of ingredients to make a great drama.
It doesn’t stop there however: in order to fix their relationship, Bryan and Cassie decide to go away on a holiday together, a romantic getaway. Quite interestingly, they decide rather than to just go to a secluded cabin somewhere in the US, to instead travel to rural Italy, and rent a villa, which Bryan has found online. The house, owned by the mysterious Eduardo, who lives in the next village, is beautiful – everything anyone could want in a holiday rental – including a fully stocked wine cellar, which they’re allowed to access, a swimming pool, and for some reason, a lot of very kischy garden gnomes.
Not long after the pair arrive, Cassie befriends the smoulderingly handsome Federico, played, it must be said, disturbingly creepily, by Riccardo Scamarcio (‘The Woman in White’, ‘Master of None’ and ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’). Instantly he gets the hackles up of Bryan: Cassie dismisses this as pure jealousy, but it seems there’s some basis to his impression.
The film follows along a nearly predictable pattern of love, lust, adultery and horror: Federico is more than just a charming neighbour, he’s a voyeur who has been keeping a close eye on the goings on in the house. There’s a twist in the tale which we won’t reveal, and despite the otherwise obvious progression of the film, we never expected it at all.
‘Welcome Home’ is now available on Video On Demand through The Movie Partnership.
