Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Marvel's Spider-Man Secret Lair promotional image

    Get a Look At the Secret Lair x Marvel’s Spider-Man Superdrop

    09/08/2025
    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions gameplay still

    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions Is All About Adventure (with Friends)

    09/08/2025
    Chord in Persona 5 The Phantom X

    Now Is The Perfect Time To Jump Back In ‘Persona 5: The Phantom X’

    09/05/2025
    Cosmic Spider-Man card details

    [EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

    09/02/2025
    Lee Corso from College Football GameDay in EA Sports games

    EA Sports Always Understood Lee Corso’s Legacy

    09/01/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » REVIEW: ‘Safer At Home’ Fails To Deliver On Its Premise

REVIEW: ‘Safer At Home’ Fails To Deliver On Its Premise

Nessa CannonBy Nessa Cannon02/26/20214 Mins Read
Safer at Home
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Safer at Home

Since the pandemic started, the production of web camera-based found footage films have gone up significantly. These films existed pre-quarantine, such as Unfriended and Searching to name a few, but it’s interesting to see them take on a new approach with social distancing in mind. 

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Safer at Home is one of these thriller films, directed by Will Wernick and co-written by Wernick and Lia Bozonelis. It takes place entirely over a Zoom-esque webcam service as seven friends celebrate a birthday two years into the pandemic. A new, deadlier variant of COVID is spreading, and Los Angeles is essentially a police state due to lockdowns and increased police presence. 

Everything is going well for the group of friends, especially considering the circumstances. Our focus tends to fall on Jen (Jocelyn Hudon) and Evan (Dan J. Johnson), who have been happily dating for about a decade. Liam (Daniel Robaire) and Ben (Adwin Brown) are a long-time couple also living together, Oliver (Michael Kupisk) and Mia (Emma Lahan) are “co-quarantining”, and Harper (Alisa Allapach) is the single comedic relief. They all join a call to celebrate Liam’s birthday. Oliver has sent everyone ecstasy pills through the mail to get the party started. As you can imagine, things go downhill from there when one of the seven is accidentally killed. 

The inciting incident of taking the ecstasy feels pointless. It doesn’t change the characters’ behavior in a meaningful way, and they’re doing things they would do sober, like driving and chatting. Even the character’s death isn’t related to being intoxicated, but every time the film brings it up, it feels hollow. 

Safer At Home’s strongest point is within the first twenty minutes. The viewer is anticipating the drugs kicking in, and after the death of one of the seven characters, we want to see where the film will take us. It is full of potential that goes to waste rather quickly. No one thinks to call an ambulance, and that logical fallacy is the only thing that lays the groundwork for the rest of the conflict. Two of the characters spend the majority of the plot running from cops, while the other four helplessly watch through their webcams. There are brief mentions of curfews and quarantines passed around, but there’s nothing meaningful.

The whole premise of the film is that it takes place during a pandemic that has escalated past what we currently know, but the script constantly undermines itself. Two of the characters hug and are out in public without masks. The police presence doesn’t seem especially out of the ordinary either. It feels like the audience is constantly being told that things are somehow worse in this fictional version of 2022 than they are currently, but doesn’t have the imagery or dialogue to back it up. The movie consistently loses sight of its own agenda in favor of shallow thrills. It’s even difficult to speak to the performance of the actors because the script they’re working off of is primarily fueled by empty panic.

As the surviving friends try to solve the problem of the body on the floor, they’re also having deeply personal arguments over Zoom – unmuted. Everyone brings their phone/laptop with them wherever they go, including into the car, bedroom, or even bathroom. It doesn’t feel authentic to anyone who’s been living their life on Zoom for the last year, and misses potential nuance and foreshadowing by feeling the need to state everything out loud. 

Safer At Home also attempts to grapple with the Black Lives Matter movement that had a peak moment in the summer of 2020, in the midst of the COVID pandemic. The opening news clips mention it alongside the rising case numbers and statements from former President Trump, but it isn’t ever mentioned again. It fumbles with this issue as well, reducing it to an unfortunate, uncomfortable, and exploitative way to end the film. 

In short, Safer At Home fails at encapsulating the isolation through the COVID-19 pandemic. It also isn’t a sufficient source of thrills or scares and doesn’t deliver any of the thoughtful commentaries that the premise could provide. It’s a shallow, panicky ride that feels over before it can really begin.

Safer At Home is in select theaters, VOD, and digital on February 26th, 2021.

 

Safer At Home
  • 3/10
    Rating - 3/10
3/10

TL;DR

In short, Safer At Home fails at encapsulating the isolation through the COVID-19 pandemic. It also isn’t a sufficient source of thrills or scares and doesn’t deliver any of the thoughtful commentaries that the premise could provide. It’s a shallow, panicky ride that feels over before it can really begin.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Monstress,’ Issue #32
Next Article REVIEW: ‘WandaVision,’ Episode 8 – “Previously On…”
Nessa Cannon

Related Posts

The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

09/11/2025
Natasha O’Keeffe in Whitetail
6.5

TIFF 2025: ‘Whitetail’ Is An Intimate View Of A Woman Stuck In Time

09/10/2025
Love Brooklyn
6.0

REVIEW: ‘Love, Brooklyn’ Rests on Pretty

09/10/2025
Park Jeong-min in The Ugly
7.0

TIFF 2025: ‘The Ugly’ Is A Harsh Exercise In Self-Reflection

09/09/2025
No Other Choice
9.0

TIFF 2025: ‘No Other Choice’ Delivers a Bleak Vision of Capitalism

09/09/2025
Molly Lewis in Whistle
8.0

TIFF 2025: ‘Whistle’ Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

09/07/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

By Kate Sánchez09/11/2025Updated:09/11/2025

The Long Walk is a brutal watch. Equally heartfelt and heartbreaking, it’s one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s work.

EA Sports FC Icons Match promotional image from Nexon News

2025 Icons Match Returns With Football Legends Bridging The Pitch And Video Games

By Kate Sánchez09/03/2025Updated:09/03/2025

NEXON has announced the return of the ‘2025 Icons Match,’ a live event that brings a full roster of legendary players to the pitch.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 11
8.5
Anime

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan’ Season 2 Episode 11 – “Hey, It’s a Kaiju”

By Allyson Johnson09/11/2025

The ragtag group faces down the mysterious kaiju in the thrilling and beautifully animated DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 11.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here