In the heart of San Francisco, California, a series of individuals, from a single mother to a man on trial for murder, must deal with their unfortunate living situation. They live in what is called an SRO (single room occupancy), and their Home is a Hotel. They are looking for change, but this is all they have right now.
This isn’t necessarily a knock on Home is a Hotel specifically, but it feels like documentary filmmaking has been grasping at straws as of late. The same stories are being told over and over again, and many of the topics being covered within this genre just aren’t worthy of a feature-length film. The reality is the Home is a Hotel falls under this issue, and it really struggled to pique my attention at any point.
The individuals being showcased on screen aren’t incredibly interesting; they don’t demand attention or appeal to emotion in the way that the film needs them to. From beginning to end Home is a Hotel introduces new characters and then continues to revisit their stories, never invigorating viewers or really giving them a reason to stick around. I found their stories tiresome, unappealing, and out of reach. I certainly understand that there’s a disconnect between myself and the individuals on screen, but I couldn’t find ways to bridge that gap. That may be my own fault, but it feels like Home is a Hotel doesn’t do enough to help me out either. With that, I felt stuck, unable to connect with anyone.
There was actually a point when I considered turning off Home is a Hotel. By about the hour mark I felt that I had heard everything, that nothing was going to change or get any better. I stuck it out, but I was right. Nothing changes, and the same stories are told over and over again, just barely developed in any way. I found myself bored, and in Home is a Hotel’s final act, it did nothing to reel me back in.
It seems (even in the early going) that Directors Kevin Duncan Wong, Todd Sills, and Kar Yin Tham don’t plan to shake things up, that they plan to travel the same path that so many documentaries have in the past year or so. They tell a series of stories that don’t necessarily need to be told, and most definitely don’t require an hour and a half to tell. By the halfway point I was bored, by the hour mark I was ready to shut off Home is a Hotel. By the end of the film my opinion hadn’t changed, and I can’t fully comprehend why the film was made at all.
Directed by Kevin Duncan Wong, Todd Sills, & Kar Yin Tham.
Starring Sylvester, Jacque, Sunbear, Amy, Esther, Christina, etc.
⭐⭐⭐½/10
