Home should be the one place we feel comfortable. Our refuge in a world growing increasingly chaotic and hostile towards our survival, and the place where we should be able to speak freely and do what makes us happy; in the Canadian psychological Sci-Fi thriller Home Bodies, their home provides this environment. Until it doesn’t.
Written by Adrian Murray and Marcus Sullivan, and directed by Casey Walker, Home Bodies revolves around the day-to-day lives of fraternal twins Red and Blue, played by real life twins Emma and Ian Ho, as they follow a very structured routine. Every day they wake up at the same time, make their beds, prepare breakfast, and look forward to watching a ‘new’ episode of the children’s show Barn and playing games such as toss ball with each other.
Every day is the same. Predictable. Safe. Until one day during a game of toss ball, Blue isn’t able to catch his sister’s toss, and the window behind him breaks.
It’s in their reaction that the film begins to settle into a tone that signals things aren’t quite what they seem, because of the twins’ reaction of panic, fear, and intense discussion on whether or not to tell “Papa” the truth of what happened is reasonably considered to be exaggerated to the mild nature of the incident.
Who is Papa? Papa is a voice that comes from a 70’s era black and white TV that asks them about their daily task. The unseen hand directs their lives, questioning and disciplining every action Blue and Red make, using open ended questions and phrases causing the children to be anxious worried about which answers would please Papa for them to avoid punishment.
Until the arrival of Pal. Pal, played by Ess Hödlmoser, is an unknown being sent by Papa to be a companion to the children in response to the tension growing between them. Red is maturing, becoming easily frustrated with her brother, who’s fine with the way things are, while she begins to question where they are and why. She wants to know where the Barn tapes come from. Who makes them, and most important of all, when will they get to meet Papa?
With the introduction of Pal, the dynamic between Red and Blue changes, and they, in a way, switch personalities. Blue is immediately suspicious of the eerily quiet, non-reactive interloper who seems to magically appear from nowhere. Blue’s previously gregarious nature becomes subdued and suspicious, while Red, who had been irritable and frustrated, is welcoming of Pal and immediately labels the androgynous mystery as being “a girl”- speaking to her unspoken desire for female companionship. And Pal neither confirms nor rejects being gendered, because Pal doesn’t talk. But they do stare…a lot.
This is where I have to give my kudos to Emma, Ian, and Ees for their performances. At 16-years-old, Emma and Ian have very impressive resumes, having been acting in live action and animated projects of various genres for the last several years (two of their most notable projects being Paw Patrol and The Expanse series), and in Home Bodies they prove they have what it takes to lead features with admirable dexterity. Walker’s direction of their characters’ switch in mental states and narrative arcs is interesting because they don’t copy each other, though it could’ve been easy to do, as it would be an interesting interpretation of how identical twins switch identities to play tricks on others. But Blue and Red aren’t identical. They’re their own person, forming their own distinct understanding that the world they’re inhabiting isn’t as safe as they thought it was, and that the new, mysterious, and unknown beings can be dangerous.
The subtle differences in how Ees plays Pal’s interactions with the twins when they’re together versus when they’re apart hint at the possible motivations Papa may have for sending them there. With a slight tilt of the head and a shift in shoulder placement in conjunction with the angle of the camera, it makes Pal’s staring all the more unnerving. It’s this intentional method of disrupting the children’s lives that reveals Papa doesn’t have true fatherly feelings towards Blue and Red. Is Pal friend or foe?
Characters living in isolation have long been interesting avatars for how writers explore the limits of the human psyche and will to survive. The thought of being kept in a limited space with little to no mental stimulation and emotional enrichment is anxiety-inducing. It’s why being imprisoned works as a deterrent for crimes against society. And in film, particularly in the Science Fiction and Horror genres, filmmakers visualise these anxieties to a chilling effect with films such as 1998’s Cube by Vincenzo Natali, Cloverfield Lane (2016), and the 2019 Spanish series The Platform. In these dystopic narratives people are placed in confined spaces where the stress of being in a claustrophobic environment is made all the more disorienting by knowing there’s a world outside that could be either collapsing, or moving on without you.
What sets Home Bodies apart from these other films and series is the protagonists being teenage siblings completely isolated from any human interaction from birth. Because you see, Red and Blue have always been alone. There’s nothing around them to suggest that they’re aware of what it’s like to be around other people. Writers Marcus and Adrian put their own spin on this story structure, offering a perspective of what it would look like if children grew up completely isolated and disconnected from the world. They have food, clothing, entertainment, and tools that allow them to express their imagination, but it’s all constrained by what’s provided for them. They understand the concept of humanity, but only in reference to themselves and what they imagine Papa to be. It’s a disturbing thought experiment seen in novels such as the 1954 novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding, and Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’ (1894).
As a psychological sci-fi film, Home Bodies is an entertaining, uncomfortable entry into a subgenre of dystopian stories about humans’ ability to survive in all sorts of inhospitable environments, and how much we crave community and connection even when we don’t realise it, and how this desperation can be used against us.
For the film’s world premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival, I had the pleasure of speaking with Emma, Ian, and Casey about working together. Emma and Ian shared what they thought of each other’s characters, and how a game of catch worked to show Red and Blue’s emotional arc. Casey spoke about adapting the script, casting the twins, and working with production designer Chareese Steinhoff and art director David-William Martel to create the set’s discomforting atmosphere and Art Deco style on a limited budget.
Carolyn Hinds
Freelance Film Critic, Journalist, Podcaster & YouTuber
African American Film Critics Association Member, Tomatometer-Approved Critic
Host & Producer Carolyn Talks…, and So Here’s What Happened! Podcast
Bylines at Authory.com/CarolynHinds
Twitter & Instagram: @CarrieCnh12
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