(Credits: Open Road Films)

Nobody expected a 2013 Jason Statham thriller to be back onto the Netflix charts in 2026, yet here it is because Homefront is not a film you leave to stay in the past. And it makes more sense when you remember the era it came from because this was that stretch of action cinema where the villains felt human rather than cartoonish masterminds hiding in skyscrapers.

This is Jason Statham at full intensity playing Phil Broker, a former DEA agent who just wants to raise his daughter in peace in a small Louisiana town after a dangerous operation forces him out of his old life. Yet, of course, peace never lasts for men who carry that much history on their shoulders because the past does not disappear. It waits.

The story begins with something as small as a fight at school where Broker’s daughter is involved. That should have been the end of it. But in a town where everyone knows everyone, pride gets hurt fast. Parents take it personally, and rumours start spreading. Before long, Broker’s name reaches Gator Bodine, the local meth dealer played by James Franco. He plays a man who does not shout to feel dangerous because he carries that threat in the way he stands and looks at you.

Franco does not chew scenery here; instead, he plays Gator with restraint, which makes him more unsettling because he feels believable. He feels exactly like the sort of man who would escalate a simple disagreement into something destructive simply because he cannot stand being challenged in his own backyard.

What makes Homefront hit especially hard in this streaming revival moment is how natural everything feels because this is not global catastrophe cinema. This is one house becoming a battleground, and a father deciding he will not be pushed around.

The script was written by Sylvester Stallone, and he keeps the focus narrow, which works in its favour because the film never pretends Broker is saving civilisation. This time, he is protecting his daughter from consequences that grew out of a life he thought he had left behind, and that emotional clarity keeps the narrative sharp without needing grand speeches. Broker is always measuring the room before anyone else realises they miscalculated.

Homefront earned solid box office returns when it was first released in 2013, yet it truly found long-term appreciation through cable replays and streaming rediscovery. And seeing it climb on Netflix now feels less surprising once you remember how satisfying straightforward storytelling can be when it is anchored by an actor who understands restraint better than theatrics.

Sometimes audiences circle back to films that remind them why they loved action thrillers in the first place because personal stakes hit harder, and because a father protecting his child will always matter more than a man fighting military personnel from a helicopter. And right now, Netflix viewers are clearly leaning into that energy.