Director:Â Brian Taylor
Cast:Â Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair, Anne Winters, Lance Henriksen, Joseph D. Reitman, Rachel Melvin
Rating: 15
Running Time: 86 mins
Release Date:Â 09/03/2018
The calibre of films that are out around this time of year is nothing short of extraordinary. Be it mockumentary dramas about disgraced figure skaters, or coming of age tales in Sacramento and Northern Italy, or even a fantastical imagining of what sex with a fish might be like, there’s truly something for everyone. Most are even as good as people say they are- some aren’t of course. Phantom Thread, the much lauded latest from Paul Thomas Anderson was a sinfully boring two hours of watching Daniel Day Lewis wonder whether or not his fashion designs were any good (spoiler: they were s**t). It was also the movie that made me- a long term lover of all things Oscars- long for award season to be over. I suddenly longed for a fun movie going experience- one free of both the obligation to see it in the first place, and the pressure to enjoy it. Well, the Oscars are over now and thankfully I didn’t have to wait long for the fun movie going experience I needed.
Mom and Dad, the new film from writer/ director Brian Taylor describes itself as a comedy horror- the premise of which is simple: what if a parent’s instinct to protect their children was somehow inverted and they wanted to kill them instead?
Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair are Brent and Kendall, parents to two children Carly and Josh (Anne Winters and Zackary Arthur). Brent is a frustrated middle aged businessman whilst Kendall is a bored stay-at-home mum, unable to get back into the workplace after such a long break so filling her days with yoga classes and green juices instead. Life is boring, that is until all the parents in their sleepy, suburban town are overcome with a desire to murder their own children the moment they set eyes on them. If it sounds dark, well, that’s because it is. Yet Mom and Dad never descends into full blown unwatchable evil and this is in large part due to the lead performers.
Whilst the children play it straight and are suitably wide eyed and terrified, Cage and Blair seem to have great fun hamming it up. Nicolas Cage- not known for his aversion to manic roles- goes full Nicolas Cage in this one and it’s no less delightful here than any other time he’s done it. Meanwhile Selma Blair puts in a nuanced comic performance that will make you remember just how great she is- and wonder why on earth she doesn’t get given more roles. There is something oddly touching about seeing this couple-whom we know to have marital issues- bond and congratulate each other over how best to murder their children (“Great idea, honey!” he says of his wife’s plan to gas their children in the basement).
Even as I write I’m recognising that saying a scene like this is funny might be a hard sell for some. Make no mistake, I spent the first fifteen minutes or so squirming and unsure if I could get on board. But the soundtrack, believable dialogue and original idea won me over and once that happened, I was really laughing. The fact the film ends suddenly- mid sentence actually- is a bonus if anything. More self indulgent directors might have added on forty minutes of aftermath that would no doubt contain endless scenes of parents apologising and traumatised kids in therapy. Who needs that? Sure, it might be an interesting film but scenes like that would have no place in this one.
Similarly, its impressively tight 83 minute running time would have been affected and I’m just not sure the world needs another overlong session of characters navel gazing- not while Phantom Thread is still showing in cinemas anyway.
Mom and Dad has an original concept presented in a creative way with a superb leading cast and- crucially- it doesn’t out-stay its welcome. Though it won’t be troubling the Academy anytime soon it does exactly what it sets out to do and does it well- and for that it should be heartily applauded.
