Starring Melanie Lynsky, Elijah Wood, and Devon Graye, I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore is a movie about Ruth, a depressed woman and her pursuit (with help from her neighbour) of the degenerate criminals responsible for burglarising her house.

An interesting mix of comedy, thrills and drama. It’s the peculiar eccentricities and general weirdness of most of the characters that kept me watching. Especially as it became abundantly clear that Ruth and her obnoxious neighbour are dangerously out of their depth.

The comedy in I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore is mostly the kind that made me smile or chuckle a little, instead of the kind that might threaten to split my sides. There were points where I found myself thinking, ‘Really, woman? Where’s your instinct for self preservation? Where?!’ But then I remembered that Ruth is quite frustrated, depressed, off her medication and absolutely unbalanced in a very believable way – thanks to a good performance by Lynsky. Written and directed by Macon Blair, this is a movie you watch to see something a little different.

As well as causing me to hide behind my fingers a few times, Macon’s movie had me thinking about how scary it can be when you’re new to living alone. I also found myself understanding and empathising with Ruth’s frustrations. However, compared to her, my general sense of self preservation is, how do I say… stratospheric.

The parts I enjoyed most are the first and last third of the movie. Besides Lynsky and Wood, my other favourite performance came courtesy of Christine Woods who plays what looks like the highly medicated stepmother of the degenerate son.

Good movies that came to mind as I watched I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore include The Voices (2014) and The Lobster (2015), mainly because of the darkness but also the humour. Watch it for the realistic humour and character eccentricities.

Taylor Tunes, Jane Levy, Chris Doubek, Marilyn Faith Hickey, Gary Anthony Williams and also star.

Happy Film Loving

G