As a plot driver, the traumatic home invasion has long been a staple of both film pulp—movies like Cape Fear, Death Wish, and John Wick—and artier projects like Michael Haneke’s Funny Games and Ari Aster’s anxious new Beau Is Afraid. All play into our collective fears of lawless hooligans invading our personal space. But a plot device, as every sane person knows, is simply a tool for the creation of fantasy.
In the space of three days, two individuals more than a
