Hi everyone!
Welcome back to another week of reviews. This week, we’re switching back to Netflix, with five Netflix Original reviews, including the return of One Movie Spouse checking out that other Brie Larson film available right now. We’ll also have our weekly Fantastic Fest feature from Andrew Campbell, back across the pond again for some Swedish science fiction weirdness.
And I thought today, I’d go back and see what was going on a year ago. And yikes, was I surprised by what I saw! When it comes to Nicolas Cage, you get a lot of movies. Some of them good. Most of them not so great. Last year we were blessed with two Cage gems, including “Mandy” (which I have yet to see, because I haven’t yet subscribed to Shudder) and today’s film about what happens when human parents are induced to savage their children. Now, I fully admit today’s film is not for everyone, but it is cathartic for any parent who has, in a moment of frustrated weakness, thought about harming their children. It also sits at a 74% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a love it or hate it 59 rating at Metacritic. And you can catch it streaming on Hulu, if you dare. I certainly did.
Subscribe to stay current with the latest releases.
Connect with us over social media to continue the conversation.
Here we go!
/////
Today’s movie is “Mom and Dad” (2018), the horror comedy written and directed by Brian Taylor. The film follows Carly (Anne Winters) and Josh (Zackary Arthur), who return home to their parents, Brent (Nicolas Cage) and Kendall (Selma Blair), on a day when a mass hysteria overcomes all parents driving them to try and kill their children. Yes, you heard all that correctly.
Spoilers ahead.
Situational horror films have become more prevalent in recent years, especially with the success of “It Follows”, “Don’t Breathe”, “Get Out”, and most recently, “A Quiet Place” (more on that tomorrow). In some respects, all horror films have situational elements, but only recently have those situations extended past one or two awful people to include new world rules, as in “The Purge”, “The Belko Experiment”, and most famous of all, “Night of the Living Dead”. The real challenge is being able to balance the story so that it isn’t simply a concept film, but also has something of a larger message to be communicated based on the situation.
“Mom and Dad” is quite literally a savage film, in that a mysterious and unexplained signal is transmitted through radio and television static to reverse the parenting impulse, an effect in overcrowded domestic pig farms known as savaging. Strangely enough, this effect only makes parents target their own children, and not children in general. And let’s face it, there’s not a parent on this planet who hasn’t had a thought of harming their child, and in some places, some folks still practice “spare the rod, spoil the child” kinds of child-rearing practices.
So, how well does the film stack up? It ends up being mostly a concept film, cramming in almost every possible scenario into two hours, including what happens right after giving birth to a visit from the grandparents. Cage and Blair are really evil, and while the kids are a bit meek, they feel pretty realistic, despite some outlandish twists and turns to shoehorn in some much needed comic relief. Brian Taylor takes this concept as far as it will go, riding a line between comedy and horror, and using some flashbacks to demonstrate how creepy some parental behavior can be to children.
“Mom and Dad” (2018) is not for the faint of heart, exploring a truly awful concept in a fun, if distributing sort of way. It stays away from making any larger points, though, even as the script is peppered with everyday sayings and actions that should make parents reflect on their own behavior. Horror fans and parents with strong stomachs should enjoy this film, but be ready for extremely dark comedy and horror.
