FOREVER HOME (2023)

3 stars

Miracle Media. Digital. 20th April

A house up for sale, somewhat rundown with an overgrown garden – the local kids think it is haunted, which is confirmed when a couple of them venture inside. This also establishes early on that this is a film not be taken too seriously.

Ryan (Drew Leatham, who co-wrote the script with director Sean Oliver) and his fiancée Jules (Sammie Lideen) are excited as they are travelling across country to their new home – of course they have bought the haunted house. The film does a nice job establishing their relationship early on.

They get a sense something isn’t right when the realtor who is supposed to be showing them round, can’t wait get out of there quickly enough. They also meet their slightly odd neighbour Peggy (Shelly Boucher) who they later discover is actually a ghost… the knife in the back of the head being a big clue.

That night Max (Cody Hunt) arrives on their doorstep. Jules can’t turn her brother away, and he effectively moves in.

It isn’t long before odd things start to happen – and the realisation that their new abode is home to several spirits, including two children and a woman playing the cello. They call in a medium to try and help, but that doesn’t end well.

It is all rather frenetic at times and has a music score (by D.A. McCormick) that is a bit ‘on point’. It does have amusing moments and is quite silly. The kids playing the young ghosts look like they wandered in from a theatre school production and much of the acting is on that level, though the cast do give it their all. At nearly two hours this is far too long.

Steve Kirkham