Home for the Holidays

Home for the Holidays

Year: 1972

Runtime: 73 mins

Language: English

Director: John Llewellyn Moxey

ThrillerHorrorHorror

A frail patriarch gathers his four estranged daughters for a Christmas reunion, but his concern is far from festive. Convinced his young wife is slowly poisoning him, he implores the sisters to eliminate her, setting the holiday gathering into a deadly, twisted family drama.

Home for the Holidays (1972) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

Get a spoiler-free look at Home for the Holidays (1972) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.

The snow‑capped countryside and a looming winter storm set the stage for a Christmas gathering that feels more like a reckoning than a celebration. At the heart of the gathering is the frail but wealthy patriarch Benjamin Morgan, whose declining health has turned his sprawling farmhouse into a quiet stronghold. He has summoned his four daughters—Alexandra Morgan, the eldest who carries the weight of family expectations; Freddie, the impulsive middle child; Jo, the pragmatic sister longing for escape; and Chris, the tender‑hearted youngest—each of whom has drifted far from one another over the years. Their return is also meant to include Elizabeth Hall Morgan, the second wife whose presence has become a source of whispered concern.

The film quiets the traditional holiday glow with a steady undercurrent of suspicion. Benjamin is convinced that Elizabeth is endangering him, a belief that injects a palpable tension into the otherwise festive setting. The sisters, each marked by distinct personalities and histories, must navigate a fragile alliance while grappling with their own unresolved grievances. Their interactions oscillate between tentative affection and sharp, unspoken accusations, making the farmhouse feel both a sanctuary and a pressure cooker.

As rain lashes the windows and the wind shrouds the rural homestead, the atmosphere thickens with an eerie sense of confinement. The weather mirrors the internal storm brewing among the family members, blurring the line between seasonal melancholy and something far more unsettling. Shadows lengthen in the corridors, and every creak of the old house seems to echo the unspoken fears that have followed these siblings home.

Against this moody backdrop, Home for the Holidays promises a tense, character‑driven drama that explores how fragile trust can be when old wounds resurface under the watchful eye of a patriarch whose paranoia may prove contagious. The stage is set for a holiday that will force each of the sisters to confront the fragile bonds that hold them together—and the dark undercurrents threatening to tear them apart.

Last Updated: December 04, 2025 at 23:02

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Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Claustrophobic family horror movies like Home for the Holidays

Stories where family gatherings become pressure cookers of paranoia and violence.If you liked the tense, oppressive dread of Home for the Holidays, you'll find more movies in this thread where family gatherings turn deadly. These similar thrillers and horror stories feature isolation, psychological torment, and the brutal unraveling of family bonds in a confined, pressure-cooker environment.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern typically involves a family forced together in an isolated location, where a secret, a suspicion, or a looming threat acts as a catalyst. The plot unfolds as a psychological unraveling, often revealing long-held grudges and mental instability, leading to a series of violent acts that destroy the family unit from within.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on familial dysfunction erupting into horror within a claustrophobic setting. They share a dark tone, heavy emotional weight, and a steady pacing that builds unbearable suspense, creating a specific, unsettling viewing experience centered on the home as a place of terror.

Slow burn psychological thrillers with bleak endings like Home for the Holidays

Thrillers where a pervasive sense of unease steadily tightens into inevitable tragedy.Fans of the steady, dread-filled pacing and bleak conclusion of Home for the Holidays will appreciate these similar movies. This thread collects psychological thrillers and horror films where tension builds methodically, focusing on character psyche and inevitable tragedy, resulting in a similarly heavy and unsettling experience.

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Narrative Summary

Stories in this thread unfold with a deliberate, steady pace. The initial premise establishes a fragile normalcy that is gradually chipped away by small, unsettling events or growing paranoia. The focus is on the psychological state of the characters as they move toward an often bleak and tragic outcome, with the journey being as important as the destination.

Why These Movies?

These films are grouped by their shared approach to pacing and mood. They prioritize a consistent, building sense of dread over fast-paced action, creating a deeply immersive and psychologically taxing experience. The similarity lies in the feeling of being trapped in a slow-motion nightmare with no hope of escape.

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Home for the Holidays Summary

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Home for the Holidays Summary

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Home for the Holidays Timeline

Characters, Settings & Themes in Home for the Holidays

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Home for the Holidays

More About Home for the Holidays

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