5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy

Onscreen homes are often anthropomorphized to stage the story and characters. Step inside 5 of our favorite homes that deserve a spinoff of their own, from the comfort of yours. From upscale townhouses to regencycore palatial homes- catch our curations of onscreen homes that set the mood.

The Undoing

5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy, The Undoing

5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy, The undoing

Nicole Kidman’s New York brownstone was nothing short of a boho-chic homemaker’s dream come true. Director Susanne Bier wanted to describe the lives of these New York elites in a nuanced way, as opposed to the usually broader representation. While Nicole’s character in the show came from extreme wealth, she pretended to be a little more down to earth with a humble (but not-so-humble), unstaffed home. The kitchen being the epicenter, the Fraser townhouse is characterized with darker cool toned hues, rustic walls and furniture, and art that only adds to the warmth.

Better Things

5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy, better things

5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy, better things

Modern maximalist with a side of kitsch- Pamela Adlon’s home on her understated show Better Things is treated as the personal gallery of its inhabitants. Not-so-loosely based on her life IRL, Sam Fox is a single mom living in this Los Angeles bungalow with her three daughters. Personalised spaces make it a house where freedom and individuality is available as much as art (supplied from Pamela’s private collection) lines its walls (i.e. a lot).

Emma

5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy, Emma

5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy, Emma

Emma, the misguided heroine, views the people around her as dolls to be played with and paired off. The onscreen adaptation of this Jane Austen novel was accurately housed in what could only be described as a Georgian dollhouse. Each room in the house, called Hartfield, is more colourful than the next. It creates the sort of visual rainbow that is befitting to the gay abandon with which Emma floats across each room, dreaming up her matchmaking strategies.

Parasite

5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy, Parasite

5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy, Parasite

In Bong Joon Ho’s cinematic masterpiece, the characterisation of the wealthy Park family would have been gravely incomplete without this house. Aesthetically, this Parasite home was designed to be something the owners could brag about. It was designed to be a juxtaposition to the toppling down underground home of the Kim family. With it’s sleek interiors and modern silhouettes, this house would have added a fifth Oscar to Parasite’s repertoire if such an award existed.

Where’d You Go Bernadette?

5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy, Where did you go Bernadette?

5 Onscreen Houses with Main Character Energy, Where did you go Bernadette?

Before you know anything about Kate Blanchett’s Bernadette, the familiarity sets in just from glimpses of her home. Set in a dilapidated girls’ school, the Fox family calls it home and restores it to a bizarre glory that only a creative genius could have pulled off. Bernadette is a reluctantly retired architect with an illustrious career behind her. She willingly quits her profession for her husband and daughter, creating a sense of mess and ungrounding that can also be used to best describe the house. She uses crafty, upcycling hacks to transform the space into an unintentional peek to her own emotional landscape.