Mom and Dad (2018)
Yup! Nick Cage, ladies and gentlemen! Whenever I hear about a new Nicolas Cage movie, I get really excited. Usually, I'm excited to laugh at him. Not that he's a bad actor; he has in fact played some of my favorite roles of all time. But, I think it's pretty undeniable that many of the roles he has taken were essentially effortless lusts for a paycheck. And, if you've ever seen the "Nicolas Cage Loses His Shit" YouTube compilation, you know how ridiculous this can get. And those clips were all from his older, milder movies.
But no! Fuck no! I did not laugh at his acting. I did laugh at him, sure, but it was because he was actually fucking funny! More than anything, I think I was surprised by his performance in this movie.
I first heard this movie being advertised on a podcast I listen to, The Last Podcast on the Left. It's an amazing podcast and I suggest anyone interested in horror to check it out. Those dudes are really, really funny. Anyways, although I trust their judgement, I was a little skeptical at first about the first. I finally sat down to watch it the other day, and I was very glad I did.
Definitely worth a watch
Like I said, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. Are there flaws? Certainly. I thought the characters were morbidly under-developed. Character development of the parents comes late in the film through flashbacks, a method I found both original and delivering. However, virtually nothing really comes around about the kids. The daughter's a bitch, and the son just kind of exists.
Also, the racial stereotyping is absurdly blatant. Considering the way director Brian Taylor played with comedic themes and parody throughout, these might have been intentional. Still, it's unnecessary.
There's not much to say about the film before the spoilers, really. It kind of jumps directly into it. Also, I feel like the title, genre, and seeing any sort of cover-- it's pretty obvious what happens. Either way, the point is, I really suggest you check it out! I was very pleasantly surprised with this film. If you don't want to read any further, well.. bye :3
Spoilers!!
Like I said above, being a horror film entitled "Mom and Dad", it's not hard to predict what happens. The parents turn on the kids!! Surprise, surprise. There's nothing hidden in that title.
The film follows a wealth suburban white family, led by Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair's characters. We, as the audience, mostly follow their two children, a spoiled teenage girl and her little brother, who, like afore-mentioned, we don't really know anything about. Our first glimpse of the epidemic to come, however, is from the son's perspective; when the house maid murders her daughter.
The house maid is one of my qualms with the movie. She is a very, very stereotypically depicted Chinese house cleaner. She even drives a Honda Element, lol.
Anyways, no one aside from the son is present for the murder, and after he runs to hide under his bed, we shift focus to the school; where Blair has dropped off her daughter.
At the school, the plot to follow becomes fairly evident. Children are being called to the office; parents are lining up outside the windows with sinister looks of betrayal in their eyes; and the children are being separated from them. As one child breaks through to the parent-side of the fence, and is stabbed to death by his mother's car keys- it becomes clear that the parents are only after their own children.
Another thing that kind of pisses me off is that there is no explanation throughout the entire film for the cause of the outbreak. Taylor shows us that parents are triggered by a certain transmission- as the TV's go static- but there is little more to it, nor any real coverage of an attempt to determine the cause. I guess, however, I'm somewhat missing the point of the film in this criticism.
The film comes down to the children being trapped in their basement with Blair and Cage trying various methods of killing them. Blair, prior to returning home, is warned not to and seems aware of the consequences and by all means seems to have every intent of protecting her children. But, her character is an idiot, and she believes she's strong enough to not go and try to murder her children. So, she returns home, and yeah.
The daughter's boyfriend has someone gotten himself into this mess as well. Although, we're not really sure until 3/4 of the way through that he is her boyfriend; nor are we sure whether there was even a prior relationship. However, he ends up there after a weird, prejudice scene in which his alcoholic father tries to kill him, but being they are the only African American family in the whole film, it is depicted as not being an unusual event. Again, I don't fully understand the point of the blatant racial, socio-economical BS going on in the movie.
Character development starts around this point through a series of flashbacks. My absolute favorite is a montage of Nicolas Cage building a pool table to the Reagan Youth song, "Anytown". I am a HUGE Reagan Youth fan and am so happy to tell you that they use not one, but two of their songs in the film. On that note, the soundtrack really, really pulls this film together :)
Shortly after this though, and after a small criticism from his wife, we then see Cage smashing the newly constructed pool table to bits while singing the "Hokey Pokey". Between that and the construction, it's a pretty entertaining 6 or so minutes.
I have to leave something to the viewer, so I'll spare the details of some of the less entertaining events that occur in the house. There is, however, a pretty entertaining clip of Selma Blair trying to use a sawzall in the most ridiculous manner. The real kicker is when Cage's parents show up for dinner.
In a very comedic twist, Blair and Cage stop trying to dismember their kids, and seem annoyed when the door bell rings. They seem to completely forget about the whole primal-instinct-try-to-kill-your-young thing going on, and an exasperated Cage goes to answer the door. He opens the door, saying something along the lines of "Dad, this really isn't a good t.."(covered in blood, mind you) before his father lunges at him with a hunting knife.
Cage has some more flashbacks about his Firebird, in which the son finds himself; in the garage. This is the pivotal point where the family starts finally moving out of the house, the grandparents die in a variety of ways, and the movie concludes with the kids alive and Blair and Cage tied up in the basement, also alive.
Have any of you seen this movie? If you have, please leave me a comment with your thoughts on the film :) I am always looking for new connections here. If you haven't, despite my bitchy little criticisms, I loved this movie and I think it's definitely worth a watch. If there are any horror movies you'd like to see reviewed, also, please, let me know in the comments!
My rating: 7/10
if you disagree with anything I said, or have a different opinion of the film, please, let me know :)
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