Article by Niccolò Bedino

Translation by Alessandra Di Paola Seminara 

«I am not in danger, I am the danger». Walter White’s legendary line from Breaking Bad could easily serve as the plot twist in Untitled Home Invasion Romance, the directorial debut of Jason Biggs. The actor of American Pie (Paul Weitz, 1999) trades teen comedy for dark comedy and shows an unexpectedly sharp command of timing, both before and behind the camera. He does not reinvent the genre, but he navigates it with a confidence many veteran filmmakers lack.

Everything begins when Kevin (Jason Biggs), attempting to revive his failing marriage, executes a plan as absurd as it is hopeless: to stage a fake home invasion based on a screenplay he wrote himself, titled Untitled Home Invasion Romance. But his friend, who was supposed to play the intruder, is actually killed by Kevin’s wife. The police arrive, misunderstandings stack up, a second real invasion hits the house, and all hell breaks loose.

In this film, Biggs flips the cinematic archetypes on their head: the hero is a coward, and the damsel in distress becomes the predator. Suzie (Meaghan Rath), wealthy, successful, yet deeply unhappy, discovers that risk is the only thing that makes her feel alive. From a terrified victim, she grows into the film’s true heroine and ultimately into a final girl who dispatches the real attackers without hesitation. On the contrary, Kevin fails at every turn, shows up too late for the first “rescue” and hides helplessly during the second assault, watching Suzie take control. Biggs’s dark comedy lands precisely because it subverts both gender expectations and romantic conventions. Suzie is not looking for a hero: she becomes one, leaving Kevin and the audience off guard in the face of a truth that is unsettling yet irresistibly funny. It is not love that saves the marriage, but the blood spilled over the weekend.

Article published on “la Repubblica” online on November 26, 2025.