There are several culinary series — about making food, about chefs, about traveling and being introduced to a variety of foods from different cultures — and movies about the restaurant industry (the dark comedy The Menu instantly comes to mind). A lot of the time the focus is so much on the stress of working in the food industry and the experience of a high-end meal, but not on the soil it comes from. House of Spoils is an exploration of witchcraft, land, and the respect it should be given, and a study of the perversion and stress of the restaurant industry.

Co-directed and co-written by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy, House of Spoils follows Ariana DeBose’s character, who is simply known as “Chef,” as she quits her job as a sous-chef to open her own restaurant in upstate New York. She works with Andres (Arian Moayed), who’s promised to invest in her as she readies an old house with its own garden for her big opening. But the longer she’s there, the more Chef starts to hear voices and sees the ghost of the woman, allegedly a witch, who used to own the place.

House Of Spoils Is Not A Horror
And It’s At Its Best When It’s Not Trying To Be

House of Spoils excels when it’s focused on the horrors of the restaurant industry, though its approach is different from other films that have tackled the same subject. Chef is so focused on succeeding that she starts treating her sous-chef, Lucia (Barbie Ferreira), the way she was treated at first. Chef’s lack of a name suggests she could be anyone, but the fact she is a woman paves the way to explore how sexist treatment can push women out of the industry or, in the case of Chef, drive her to become like the very people she disliked.

The film ponders whether the house itself is driving Chef to the brink or if it’s Andres and the pressures of opening a restaurant that’s the cause. While we ultimately find out the answer, the film’s themes are strong enough to overshadow the paltry horror we’re served. House of Spoils is frankly not scary, nor does it try very hard to be despite being a ghost story. There’s nothing particularly spooky about it, and Cole and Krudy aren’t interested in playing into stereotypes about witches, either, which is a good thing.

I get what it was trying to do, and I respect that it wasn’t trying to stick to some standard that didn’t work for it.

The film is better when taken as a whole. When I spend too long thinking about its parts, its strengths begin to weaken. Chef is driven to the edge and, for a while, I wasn’t sure exactly where House of Spoils was going. The final act is tinged with an odd sense of humor that seems a bit out of place. Once I realized it was fully underscoring the shedding of fine dining’s ceremony to embrace the connection between food and land, the more I was able to get on board, even as it shoved its horror to the side.

The handling of its final moments — and even the scenes leading up to it — are certainly eccentric, with tonal changes affecting parts of the story. Luckily, these things aren’t enough to derail House of Spoils from being a semi-enjoyable, and even intriguing, watch. I get what it was trying to do, and I respect that it wasn’t trying to stick to some standard that didn’t work for it. As Chef figured out what worked for her and accepted her role in this next stage of her career, the sense of freedom was palpable.

House Of Spoils Doesn’t Shy Away From The Reality Of Its Setting
And Ariana DeBose Commits To Her Performance

The Prime Video movie engages with the realities of working in the restaurant industry, and it does so in an astute way. Chef says she spent seven years of her life with no days off, so the pressure of succeeding was felt more keenly at every turn. We knew how much this meant to her, while at the same time acknowledging the person she was becoming due to the immense stress wasn’t something worth applauding.

DeBose delivers a committed performance — her emotions oscillate between shock, fear, annoyance, desperation, and a wildness that is especially felt at the end. Chef goes on a rollercoaster ride defined by heightened feelings and adrenaline, and DeBose is impressive as she embodies her character through such a bumpy journey. Moayed and Ferreira are good in supporting roles, while Amara Karan is memorable in a small role as a food critic.

I may not have fully bought into the supernatural elements House of Spoils tried to embrace, nor did they work in the grand scheme of things, but there’s something here that’s worth experiencing. It may not live up to the horror genre’s best movies, but it has an obvious spirit that kept me from looking away.

House of Spoils is now available to stream on Prime Video. The film is 101 minutes long and rated R for language and some violent content.