The House Was Not Hungry Then
**Seen at the 2026 Atlanta Film Festival
There is much to be said about movies that challenge form and structure to get to an emotional point. Whether they work or not, it’s always interesting to watch something different unfold. I applaud the challenge that writer-director Harry Aspinwall put in front of himself with this horror film, but it ended up feeling like it was missing the emotional connection it wanted to accomplish.
We begin by watching an elderly caretaker (Clive Russell) bringing in a variety of potential buyers to look at the home. It is absolutely not a finished product, and it looks like there hasn’t been anyone living in it for a while. We watch as people walk through the house, go into the rooms, but we don’t get too close. The people disappear, but not through the front door, and if anything was left, it disappears. The caretaker comes back, always with new people, and sometime to rest.
Part of the challenge Aspinwall gives us in “The House Was Not Hungry Then” is how it limits itself to only a few camera placements, always at a distance from the characters. It’s deep into the movie when we meet a girl (Bobby Rainsbury) who is trying to find her father, whom she is estranged with. We never see her visit family; we only see her in the house. She spends the night. She also finds a way to communicate with the house. Do things we learn in the end point to why that might be the case?
Ultimately, Aspinwall’s structural concept falls flat. The idea of only having specific camera placements to go off of isn’t a terrible one, but- even when Rainsbury’s character reveals themselves to be the main one- it doesn’t help us get to know the character the way close ups and various other angles would. It does not help that the girl takes a while to be introduced into this 92-minute film, and- when they are not part of the action- there isn’t enough tension and drama to hold our attention. This is an example of a film that might have been better served either through trimming, or as a short film. I appreciate the attempt at something new, but the execution was sorely lacking.
