• Source: House of Spoils

House of Spoils is a 2024 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy. It stars Ariana DeBose, Barbie Ferreira and Arian Moayed. It is produced by Jason Blum under his Blumhouse Television banner, Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath under their Divide/Conquer banner, and Drew Houpt, Alex Scharfman and Lucas Joaquin under their Secret Engine banner.




Plot



The story follows Elena, an ambitious young chef, who takes over a remote, dilapidated restaurant in hopes of creating a fine-dining establishment. Despite her excitement, Elena soon learns of the location’s troubling past, linked to a former owner reputed to have engaged in witchcraft and sinister rituals. Local legends warn that the spirit of this former owner haunts the property, which Elena initially dismisses as superstition.
As Elena works to prepare for the restaurant’s grand opening, she experiences a series of disturbing occurrences: spectral visions, unsettling noises, and a growing feeling of being watched. She begins to suspect that the property harbors supernatural forces. Her anxieties are further strained by conflicts with her business partner, Andres, who questions her choices and threatens to replace her with her sous chef, Lucia. Tensions escalate when Elena encounters a previous chef who reportedly went mad in the same restaurant, reinforcing her belief in the property’s cursed nature.
On the eve of the opening, Andres betrays Elena by locking her in the cellar, effectively taking her out of the restaurant’s operations. In the cellar, she uncovers a hidden chamber and learns more about the previous owner. Contrary to local folklore, the former owner was not a witch but a healer who cultivated unique herbs in her garden to aid and heal the community. Inspired, Elena decides to honor this legacy by adopting a raw, unconventional cooking style that rejects modern fine-dining constraints.
Elena escapes the cellar and returns to the restaurant, preparing a meal outdoors over an open flame, which draws considerable attention and acclaim. Her defiance ultimately leads to the restaurant’s success, reshaping its identity as an innovative and authentic culinary destination. The film concludes with Elena’s sense of fulfillment and a quiet acknowledgment of her connection to the site’s mystical past.




Cast


Ariana DeBose as Elena
Barbie Ferreira as Lucia
Arian Moayed as Andres
Marton Csokas as Marcello
Mikkel Bratt Silset as Erik Haas
Amara Karan as Hiral Sen




Production


In August 2022, Amazon Studios and Blumhouse Television announced House of Spoils which is being written and directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy with Ariana DeBose, Barbie Ferreira and Arian Moayed set to star. Principal photography on the film began in August 2022 in Hungary.




Release


House of Spoils premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 21, 2024, before streaming on Amazon Prime Video on October 3.




Reception






= Critical response

=
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 31 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.4/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Benjamin Lee of The Guardian awarded the film three out of five stars, commending Ariana DeBose for her "vivid screen presence." However, he was critical of the movie’s overall execution, remarking that "it works best when focusing on the challenges of opening a new restaurant, with the tension of designing a menu being far more terrifying than any malevolent spirit."
John Serba of Decider also praised Ariana DeBose's performance, noting that she imbues her character, Chef, with a "prickly sensibility" that complements her ambition. However, he criticized the screenplay for not fully supporting DeBose’s portrayal, stating that it "ultimately fails the actress by not fully fleshing out the character." Santanu Das of Hindustan Times commented, "[House of Spoils is] too distracted by its own choices to make any commentary about consumer culture. The finale leaves a laughably bad aftertaste. There is not enough meat here to chew, not enough texture in its construct to ponder upon, and far too few thrills that ultimately leave you hungry for more. No chef!"




References






External links


House of Spoils at IMDb

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