Prime Video's Psychological Thriller With 98% Rotten Tomatoes Has Aged Like Fine Wine

While Prime Video’s Homecoming was adored by critics when the series began back in 2018, the psychological thriller has only gotten better in the years since. Created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, Prime Video’s 2018 critical hit Homecoming was based on the Gimlet Media podcast of the same name from 2016.

The starry series focused on Julia Roberts’ Heidi, a caseworker employed at the titular Homecoming Transitional Support Center, a live-in care facility that supposedly helps soldiers readjust to daily life. Of course, since Homecoming is a twisty psychological thriller, the show’s storyline soon reveals that the facility isn’t quite what it seems.

Homecoming Is Still Prime Video’s Best Psychological Thriller

Four years after leaving Homecoming, Heidi works as a waitress but suffers from amnesia that has seemingly wiped all of her memories of her time at the facility. When an auditor from the Department of Defense starts looking into her time at Homecoming, Heidi uncovers some discomfiting memories and realizes nothing was quite as it seemed there.

Much like Netflix’s later hit Wayward, Homecoming uses a seemingly harmless facility as the setting for its twisted tale of psychological dread and unease. Although there isn’t a weak link in the show’s cast, Roberts stands out as Heidi, alternately sweet and ferocious as she tries to unknot the web of lies she has been told about her own past.

Homecoming’s plot never goes quite where viewers anticipate, and even the most paranoid fans of classic conspiracy thrillers like The Manchurian Candidate will struggle to guess the ending of the tricky series. However, Homecoming has more than mere plot twists going for it, as evidenced by its starry cast.

Homecoming’s Starry Cast Elevates A Great Story

Julia Roberts is Homecoming’s biggest name, but Carrie’s Sissy Spacek offers scene-stealing support as the mother Heidi lives with after leaving Homecoming. Bobby Cannavale gives a typically superb turn as her supervisor, Colin Belfast, while Shea Whigham’s auditor, Thomas, offers a performance perfectly pitched between menace and seemingly genuine concern.

Why Homecoming Was Canceled After Two Seasons

Since Homecoming earned a superb Rotten Tomatoes rating of 98%, it might seem hard to believe that the series was canceled after only two seasons. However, although season 2 introduced Janelle Monáe, Chris Cooper, and Joan Cusack to the cast, the show made a major mistake when it did so.

Rather than continuing to explore Heidi’s story, season 2 of Homecoming focused on new characters and adopted an anthology format. This sapped the show of some much-needed tension, and this was reflected in its reviews.

Although Homecoming season 2 still fared well with critics in general, the magic of the show’s debut season wasn’t recaptured in its otherwise solid sophomore outing. As such, Homecoming ending after a still-solid second season was the best fate for this exceptional psychological thriller.