The House Was Not Hungry Then (2025)

Low key and experimental, this is the story of a house that eats people and the young woman who breaks in and kind of forms a bond with it.

Told in a very deliberate style, with each image a wide shot inside of a room in the house, this is a film that is very much about the spaces we see on screen. If you have a fear of liminal spaces, then this film may very well before you. Its a film that sticks to its conciet from start to finish which is something that may or may not work for you, especially once the house begins talking (via subtitles).

To be honest I can't really explain what this film is like Steven Soderbergh's PRESENCE which I haven't seen.  For me it's kind of like David Lowrey's A GHOST STORY, which I was very mixed on. This isn't like some recent Asian films which are a series of one shot scenes where everything is told in a tableaux, because the POV shifts as we move through the house- but each room is always seen from one point of views.  Its a conceit that both works in giving us a sense of place, but also slows the pace down.

I was pointed toward this film by Unseen writer Eden Miller. Eden saw the film a short time before I did and connected with it's off the beaten path style and musings on life and death. Since eden and I have been trading atypical films for decades I instantly had to see it.

While Eden really liked the film, I was a bit less anamored with it. That isn't a knock on the film, rather it's simply to say that I liked more for what it was trying to do and how it tried to do it more than what it achieved. I think I would have liked it more if I felt more tension and suspense. As it stands now, for me, its an interesting attempt at trying to alter the haunted house genre, something it actually manages to do in its own way.

I'm going to be completely honest here and warn those looking for something conventional, this film may not work for you. This is something experimental so it may not play for you. On the other hand fans of the off and beaten path- which is the vast majority of the readers of Unseen Films- this is a film to give a shot to.  You may not love it but if nothing else you will be reassured that the future of horror is not going to be all knife weilding maniacs.

Recommended for the adventurous.