Homecoming (2008 film)
Encyclopedia
Homecoming is a 2009 American independent thriller film, directed by Morgan J. Freeman
and written by Katie L. Fetting, Jake Goldberger and Frank Hannah
. The film follows a student couple, Mike (Matt Long
) and Elizabeth (Jessica Stroup
), on their homecoming
- Elizabeth is taken home by Mike's ex-girlfriend Shelby (Mischa Barton
) after a road accident. Shelby is soon revealed to be fixated
on Mike and subsequently treats Elizabeth in a cruel and deranged manner. Homecomings storyline closely resembles that of the novel Misery by Stephen King
, thus making it very similar to its film adaptation
.
) driving at night while crying and smoking a cigarette, which she drops and then hits someone who was standing in the path of the car.
Mike (Matt Long
), Shelby's ex-boyfriend, has a new girlfriend, Elizabeth (Jessica Stroup
), and they are preparing to go to Mt. Bliss, Mike's hometown, because the football team is going to be retiring his jersey. Shelby has problems with the bank about the bowling alley she inherited when her mother died and still believes that she and Mike are still an item. After the football game Mike and Elizabeth decide to go to Shelby's bowling alley. When Shelby sees Mike she kisses him, but Mike tells her that he has a new girlfriend.
Shelby befriends Elizabeth and after a few tequila shots, a drunk Elizabeth says she is going to meet Mike's parents after. Shelby then tells her that Mike's parents are over judgmental, making Elizabeth nervous. Wanting to give a good first impression to Mike's parents, Elizabeth decides to go to a motel and sleep her intoxication off, so gets driven to the nearest one from Mike's policeman cousin Billy. As she arrives at check-in, the man behind the counter tells her that there are not any rooms left because of the homecoming football games and the nearest motel is four miles away. Mike goes home to see his mother, who tells him that one of her friends said his new girlfriend got drunk at the alley. Mike tells her that since Elizabeth wanted to make a good impression, she decided to stay at a motel. Mike's mother questions him why Elizabeth would think that, implying that Shelby lied to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth begins to walk up the road with her suitcase, looking for someone to drive her to the motel. While driving Shelby is now crying and smoking a cigarette as seen in the beginning scene of the film. Elizabeth tries to flag the car down and becomes the person Shelby hits. After the crash, fear for Elizabeth, Shelby puts her in her car and takes her home with her. At her house Shelby takes care of Elizabeth by using some medical supplies left over from when her mother was sick.
The next morning Mike tries to call Elizabeth but her phone goes to voicemail. Mike and Billy decide to go fishing. Elizabeth then wakes up in Shelby's house. Confused, she asks Shelby what happened. Fearing that she would go to jail for hitting Elizabeth, Shelby tells her that she found her in the road as a victim of a hit and run
. Elizabeth suffered extensive bruising and a broken ankle. Shelby tells Elizabeth that she left a message on Mike's voicemail telling him where Elizabeth was, which is a lie. Shelby then sedates Elizabeth.
Shelby then walks to her bowling alley to get Elizabeth's car. Elizabeth wakes up at Shelby's house. While Shelby is gone to get the car, she manages to get out of her bed with her injured ankle and hobble to Shelby's bedroom. She finds it covered in pictures of Mike and Shelby when they were still together with "SM + MD" written everywhere. Shelby returns and Elizabeth hobbles back to her room but accidentally detaches a photo strip of Shelby and Mike from the wall in her haste. Shelby finds the strip and realizes Elizabeth has been in her room. As a punishment she dislocates Elizabeth's bad foot. Mike and Billy go to the motel where Billy dropped her off and the receptionist tells him that Elizabeth never checked in the motel. They then go to the bowling alley where Elizabeth left her car and see that is no longer there since Shelby stole it and hid it in her barn at her house. Shelby looks through Elizabeth's suitcase and takes a gift that was intended for Mike, planning to give the gift to him as her own.
Billy later tries to convince Mike to take Shelby back, since she still loved him even after he rejected her numerous times. Mike does agree, however, to go out for drinks that night. At the bar, Mike sees Shelby there and follows her to the bathroom. Shelby and Mike begin to passionately kiss, but Mike says that he cannot cheat on Elizabeth even though she seems to have deserted him. He leaves Shelby in the bathroom where she begins to cry.
The next day, Mike, thinking Elizabeth left him for her ex-boyfriend, gets a text from Shelby on Elizabeth's phone saying too much is happening too fast. He lies on the couch looking at his phone's display of "No New Messages".
Elizabeth finds herself locked in the bathroom. After rummaging around, she discovers taped to the inside of the cistern lid Polaroid pictures of Shelby's mother dying, revealing that Shelby had killed her. There is also a paper titled "Poisonous Plants" and a form showing that no autopsy had been performed at Shelby's request. Fearing her own murder is approaching, Elizabeth scours the bathroom looking for a way out. She finds a screwdriver and uses it on the door to escape.
Shelby gets home from visiting Mike to give him his jacket and opens the bathroom door to find the room empty. She turns around to be met by the cistern lid in Elizabeth's hands. Elizabeth takes Shelby's jacket and hobbles down the stairs, out the front door into the barn, where she finds her locked car. In frustration, Elizabeth hits her car causing the alarm to sound. Shelby runs to the barn and subdues Elizabeth. Shelby calls her a "stupid bitch" and pulls the car keys from the jacket's pocket. She then ties up Elizabeth with duct tape. While she's lying on the floor, Elizabeth tells Shelby that she knows about her mother. Elizabeth tells her that her parents are rich and promises to run away and not tell anyone if Shelby will release Elizabeth and accept money from her parents. Shelby ignores her and uses pruners to cut out Elizabeth's Achilles' tendons. Shelby then gags Elizabeth and locks her in the basement.
Mike prepares for his big ceremony to retire his football jersey, wearing the jacket that Shelby gave him. Billy stops by Shelby's house to see if she wanted a ride. While Shelby is talking to Billy, Elizabeth manages to shut off the power. Billy offers to fix it, but Shelby dismisses his offer, saying she shall do it later. Billy insists and enters the basement with his flashlight, seeing Elizabeth bound and gagged. Shelby creeps down behind him, strikes him in the chest with an axe and takes his gun. She shoots him dead, puts his body in a barrel and burns it.
At the high school where they are honoring Mike, he is in the bathroom where he takes off his jacket, only to see that Elizabeth had put her initials in it. Realizing that Shelby had stolen the jacket, he thinks that Shelby must also be holding Elizabeth captive. He runs to her house to confront her where he hears Elizabeth in the basement and goes down to her. After a short standoff, Shelby shoots him in the leg. An altercation follows, resulting in Shelby fainting. He carries Elizabeth upstairs and stops to rest in the kitchen.
Shelby comes up and after more fighting is attacked by Elizabeth with Mike's football helmet. He tells her to stop, and when she does, Shelby reaches for her gun. Elizabeth then continues to beat her with the helmet. After that, Mike picks Elizabeth off her feet and carries her out.
The film fades to a home video of Shelby and Mike kissing and laughing about turning off the camera. The final shot is of Shelby's eyes opening. Shelby is not dead.
for films. Shady Side Academy
, North Allegheny High School
, a community center in McDonald
, and a farm in Bell Township
served as locations. Filming ended on January 18, 2008. A trailer was released on February 29, 2008.
and Los Angeles
and the release was expanded in subsequent weeks. The film premiered on September 26, 2009 on Lifetime. It was released on DVD firstly in Canada on March 23, 2010 and then on April 27, 2010 in the United States. The film later released straight-to-DVD in the United Kingdom
.
Morgan J. Freeman
Morgan J. Freeman is an American film director. In 1997, his debut feature, Hurricane Streets, became the first narrative film to win three awards at the Sundance Film Festival...
and written by Katie L. Fetting, Jake Goldberger and Frank Hannah
Frank Hannah
Frank Hannah is a Scottish-born screenwriter and filmmaker.Francis Michael Hannah was born in Clydebank, Scotland. He wrote the film The Cooler with friend and mentor Wayne Kramer...
. The film follows a student couple, Mike (Matt Long
Matt Long
Matthew Clayton "Matt" Long is an American actor. He played the teenaged Jack McCallister on Jack & Bobby, the younger Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider, and Tyler Prince in Sydney White....
) and Elizabeth (Jessica Stroup
Jessica Stroup
Jessica Leigh Stroup is an American actress and fashion model. Stroup is best known for her role as Erin Silver on The CW television series 90210, a spin-off to the original Beverly Hills, 90210...
), on their homecoming
Homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...
- Elizabeth is taken home by Mike's ex-girlfriend Shelby (Mischa Barton
Mischa Barton
Mischa Anne Marsden Barton is a British-American fashion model, film, television, and stage actress, best known for her role as Marissa Cooper in the American television series The O.C..-Early life:...
) after a road accident. Shelby is soon revealed to be fixated
Fixation (psychology)
Fixation: 'concept originated by Sigmund Freud to denote the persistence of anachronistic sexual traits'. Subsequently '"Fixation" acquired a broader connotation...
on Mike and subsequently treats Elizabeth in a cruel and deranged manner. Homecomings storyline closely resembles that of the novel Misery by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, thus making it very similar to its film adaptation
Misery (film)
Misery is a 1990 American Psychological Horror Film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes...
.
Plot
The film begins with Shelby (Mischa BartonMischa Barton
Mischa Anne Marsden Barton is a British-American fashion model, film, television, and stage actress, best known for her role as Marissa Cooper in the American television series The O.C..-Early life:...
) driving at night while crying and smoking a cigarette, which she drops and then hits someone who was standing in the path of the car.
Mike (Matt Long
Matt Long
Matthew Clayton "Matt" Long is an American actor. He played the teenaged Jack McCallister on Jack & Bobby, the younger Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider, and Tyler Prince in Sydney White....
), Shelby's ex-boyfriend, has a new girlfriend, Elizabeth (Jessica Stroup
Jessica Stroup
Jessica Leigh Stroup is an American actress and fashion model. Stroup is best known for her role as Erin Silver on The CW television series 90210, a spin-off to the original Beverly Hills, 90210...
), and they are preparing to go to Mt. Bliss, Mike's hometown, because the football team is going to be retiring his jersey. Shelby has problems with the bank about the bowling alley she inherited when her mother died and still believes that she and Mike are still an item. After the football game Mike and Elizabeth decide to go to Shelby's bowling alley. When Shelby sees Mike she kisses him, but Mike tells her that he has a new girlfriend.
Shelby befriends Elizabeth and after a few tequila shots, a drunk Elizabeth says she is going to meet Mike's parents after. Shelby then tells her that Mike's parents are over judgmental, making Elizabeth nervous. Wanting to give a good first impression to Mike's parents, Elizabeth decides to go to a motel and sleep her intoxication off, so gets driven to the nearest one from Mike's policeman cousin Billy. As she arrives at check-in, the man behind the counter tells her that there are not any rooms left because of the homecoming football games and the nearest motel is four miles away. Mike goes home to see his mother, who tells him that one of her friends said his new girlfriend got drunk at the alley. Mike tells her that since Elizabeth wanted to make a good impression, she decided to stay at a motel. Mike's mother questions him why Elizabeth would think that, implying that Shelby lied to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth begins to walk up the road with her suitcase, looking for someone to drive her to the motel. While driving Shelby is now crying and smoking a cigarette as seen in the beginning scene of the film. Elizabeth tries to flag the car down and becomes the person Shelby hits. After the crash, fear for Elizabeth, Shelby puts her in her car and takes her home with her. At her house Shelby takes care of Elizabeth by using some medical supplies left over from when her mother was sick.
The next morning Mike tries to call Elizabeth but her phone goes to voicemail. Mike and Billy decide to go fishing. Elizabeth then wakes up in Shelby's house. Confused, she asks Shelby what happened. Fearing that she would go to jail for hitting Elizabeth, Shelby tells her that she found her in the road as a victim of a hit and run
Hit and run (vehicular)
Hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic accident , and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards...
. Elizabeth suffered extensive bruising and a broken ankle. Shelby tells Elizabeth that she left a message on Mike's voicemail telling him where Elizabeth was, which is a lie. Shelby then sedates Elizabeth.
Shelby then walks to her bowling alley to get Elizabeth's car. Elizabeth wakes up at Shelby's house. While Shelby is gone to get the car, she manages to get out of her bed with her injured ankle and hobble to Shelby's bedroom. She finds it covered in pictures of Mike and Shelby when they were still together with "SM + MD" written everywhere. Shelby returns and Elizabeth hobbles back to her room but accidentally detaches a photo strip of Shelby and Mike from the wall in her haste. Shelby finds the strip and realizes Elizabeth has been in her room. As a punishment she dislocates Elizabeth's bad foot. Mike and Billy go to the motel where Billy dropped her off and the receptionist tells him that Elizabeth never checked in the motel. They then go to the bowling alley where Elizabeth left her car and see that is no longer there since Shelby stole it and hid it in her barn at her house. Shelby looks through Elizabeth's suitcase and takes a gift that was intended for Mike, planning to give the gift to him as her own.
Billy later tries to convince Mike to take Shelby back, since she still loved him even after he rejected her numerous times. Mike does agree, however, to go out for drinks that night. At the bar, Mike sees Shelby there and follows her to the bathroom. Shelby and Mike begin to passionately kiss, but Mike says that he cannot cheat on Elizabeth even though she seems to have deserted him. He leaves Shelby in the bathroom where she begins to cry.
The next day, Mike, thinking Elizabeth left him for her ex-boyfriend, gets a text from Shelby on Elizabeth's phone saying too much is happening too fast. He lies on the couch looking at his phone's display of "No New Messages".
Elizabeth finds herself locked in the bathroom. After rummaging around, she discovers taped to the inside of the cistern lid Polaroid pictures of Shelby's mother dying, revealing that Shelby had killed her. There is also a paper titled "Poisonous Plants" and a form showing that no autopsy had been performed at Shelby's request. Fearing her own murder is approaching, Elizabeth scours the bathroom looking for a way out. She finds a screwdriver and uses it on the door to escape.
Shelby gets home from visiting Mike to give him his jacket and opens the bathroom door to find the room empty. She turns around to be met by the cistern lid in Elizabeth's hands. Elizabeth takes Shelby's jacket and hobbles down the stairs, out the front door into the barn, where she finds her locked car. In frustration, Elizabeth hits her car causing the alarm to sound. Shelby runs to the barn and subdues Elizabeth. Shelby calls her a "stupid bitch" and pulls the car keys from the jacket's pocket. She then ties up Elizabeth with duct tape. While she's lying on the floor, Elizabeth tells Shelby that she knows about her mother. Elizabeth tells her that her parents are rich and promises to run away and not tell anyone if Shelby will release Elizabeth and accept money from her parents. Shelby ignores her and uses pruners to cut out Elizabeth's Achilles' tendons. Shelby then gags Elizabeth and locks her in the basement.
Mike prepares for his big ceremony to retire his football jersey, wearing the jacket that Shelby gave him. Billy stops by Shelby's house to see if she wanted a ride. While Shelby is talking to Billy, Elizabeth manages to shut off the power. Billy offers to fix it, but Shelby dismisses his offer, saying she shall do it later. Billy insists and enters the basement with his flashlight, seeing Elizabeth bound and gagged. Shelby creeps down behind him, strikes him in the chest with an axe and takes his gun. She shoots him dead, puts his body in a barrel and burns it.
At the high school where they are honoring Mike, he is in the bathroom where he takes off his jacket, only to see that Elizabeth had put her initials in it. Realizing that Shelby had stolen the jacket, he thinks that Shelby must also be holding Elizabeth captive. He runs to her house to confront her where he hears Elizabeth in the basement and goes down to her. After a short standoff, Shelby shoots him in the leg. An altercation follows, resulting in Shelby fainting. He carries Elizabeth upstairs and stops to rest in the kitchen.
Shelby comes up and after more fighting is attacked by Elizabeth with Mike's football helmet. He tells her to stop, and when she does, Shelby reaches for her gun. Elizabeth then continues to beat her with the helmet. After that, Mike picks Elizabeth off her feet and carries her out.
The film fades to a home video of Shelby and Mike kissing and laughing about turning off the camera. The final shot is of Shelby's eyes opening. Shelby is not dead.
Cast
- Mischa BartonMischa BartonMischa Anne Marsden Barton is a British-American fashion model, film, television, and stage actress, best known for her role as Marissa Cooper in the American television series The O.C..-Early life:...
as Shelby Mercer - Matt LongMatt LongMatthew Clayton "Matt" Long is an American actor. He played the teenaged Jack McCallister on Jack & Bobby, the younger Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider, and Tyler Prince in Sydney White....
as Mike Donaldson - Jessica StroupJessica StroupJessica Leigh Stroup is an American actress and fashion model. Stroup is best known for her role as Erin Silver on The CW television series 90210, a spin-off to the original Beverly Hills, 90210...
as Elizabeth Mitchum - Michael LandesMichael LandesMichael Christopher Landes is an American actor. He is known for his roles of Jimmy Olsen in the first season of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Detective Nicholas O'Malley in Special Unit 2, Officer Thomas Burke in Final Destination 2, and David Conlon in The Wedding Bells.-Lois...
as Billy Fletcher - Allen Williamson as Adams
- Joshua Elijah ReeseJoshua Elijah Reese-Early life:Joshua Elijah Reese was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a child, he enjoyed performing with his elementary and middle school choirs. In high school, he had aspirations of pursuing a variety of sports especially basketball. The dream ended when he failed to make the...
as Billick - Nick Pasqual as Davis
- Joe Forgione as Elfman
- Olivia Duball as Posse Girl
- Mark Lawrence as Mark
Production
On November 12, 2007, Mischa Barton was cast in the film. On December 19, 2007, Matt Long, Jessica Stroup and Michael Landes were also cast. The film was shot in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The film's New York-based production company, Paper Street Films, was drawn to the region due to Pennsylvania's tax incentive programPennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit
The Pennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit is a tax credit program supporting the production of feature films and television programs in Pennsylvania. The tax credit was signed into law by Gov. Ed Rendell in July 2004....
for films. Shady Side Academy
Shady Side Academy
Shady Side Academy is a private, secular coeducational PK-12 preparatory school located on three campuses in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, established in 1883.- Campuses :Shady Side Academy has three campuses in Pittsburgh....
, North Allegheny High School
North Allegheny Senior High School
North Allegheny Senior High School is a suburban high school in the North Allegheny School District and is located in Wexford, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The current building was built in 1974, the school has won numerous awards and was ranked in the top 1300 US high...
, a community center in McDonald
McDonald, Pennsylvania
McDonald is a borough in Allegheny and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, 18 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. In the past, manufactories of bottles, oil-well drilling tools, flour-mill products, etc., existed here. Oil and coal were and still are procured in the area...
, and a farm in Bell Township
Bell Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Bell Township is a township in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,458 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Demographics:As of the census of...
served as locations. Filming ended on January 18, 2008. A trailer was released on February 29, 2008.
Release
The film opened on July 17, 2009 in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and the release was expanded in subsequent weeks. The film premiered on September 26, 2009 on Lifetime. It was released on DVD firstly in Canada on March 23, 2010 and then on April 27, 2010 in the United States. The film later released straight-to-DVD in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.