Mom and Dad (2018)

Running Time: 1hr 23min

Release Date: Jan 19, 2018

Written/Directed by: Brian Taylor

Review by: Stacey

When a movie immediately starts off with the implied death by train of an infant, you know you've stumbled on something wild.  It's not every day that you get to see a movie with Nic Cage intentionally acting insane because that's what his role calls for; and it's not too often that we get to see a movie where the parents are the ones going psycho and killing their children.  Mom and Dad ticked off a lot of boxes for me in terms of fun and silly.

Parents start killing their children after a strange broadcast of unknown origins turns them into violent maniacs.  When mom and dad, Brent (Nic Cage) and Kendall (Selma Blair), are "infected" their children Carly (Anne Winters) and Josh (Zackary Arthur) are forced to fight for their lives.

It doesn't really get more any more simple than that.  

Mom and Dad gives you the story from both the perspectives of the parents and their children, with a few minor side characters thrown in for padding.  Let's be real though, we all know Nic Cage was the shining star of this one.  He was meant for this role and nailed it.  Selma Blair was top notch as well, but Cage brought the crazy to a whole 'nother level.  

From the same writer/director of Crank, I could see some similarities in certain scenes and his shooting style, especially in the more action-packed sequences, which were honestly the highlights of the film- most notably in the crazy football field and newborn scenes.  They didn't even try to shy away from the violence; kids were getting strangled and meat tenderizer'd left and right!

There's a total b-movie vibe with this one and I'm not even mad at it.  However, I do have a few complaints that I couldn't really get past.  I get that Mom and Dad is meant to be just a fun, trashy, black comedy but I was waiting for some kind of closure at the end.  The film left us with no solid answers as to what exactly triggered the folks into turning against their children (I get it was the static broadcasts but HOW AND WHY).  Was it government?  Was it aliens?  Was it ghosts?  Was it a fluke?  WE NEED ANSWERS, BRIAN TAYLOR.  Not only that, but there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for turning the parents into wackos.  I hate children just as much as the next person, but even I needed some justification for this.  At least they managed to address if grandparents would be coming after their adult children (they did), so I'll give them points for that.

If I were to deep-dive into the movie, I'd say it started off super promising but I feel like it kind of plateaued in the middle of the second act and never managed to rise above that.  I didn't hate the movie at all, so don't get me wrong, but the non-explanations and abrupt ending left me wanting way more out of it.

Mom and Dad isn't a movie that needs to be over analyzed by any means, and there's not even really a lot to unpack with the story, so you're getting a short one from me today.  

That said, it's a fun movie that would best be viewed as a midnight watch with a big tub of popcorn, friends, and maybe a couple of beers.

3/5

Check out the trailer below!