Mom and Dad (3/5)

Mom and Dad is a deliciously campy horror comedy. Nicolas Cage is so damn funny as a dad going through a major midlife crisis in the middle of this very strange outbreak.

The very concept of Mom and Dad sounds perfect to me. Parents going completely postal and trying to kill off their kids is the opposite of everything we usually see.

And yes, it is insanely simple, but obviously, a lot of kids will die before anyone believes their dear mommy and daddy wants to kill them. Especially since they’re sneaky and try to disguise their true intentions.

It really is perfectly set up in Mom and Dad that everyone is safe as long as they’re not near their own parents. Well, unless they are the one thing standing between a parent and the child they want to destroy.

You can watch the trailer for Mom and Dad right here or continue reading our review below.

Nicolas Cage acting his age

Look, I’ve always enjoyed watching Nicolas Cage movies. Sure, he always tries to look and act 10-20 years younger than he is. And usually, his love interest is young enough to be his own kid. But still, they tend to be entertaining if rather forgettable.

This time around, Nicolas Cage is acting his age. And in Mom and Dad, he’s married to Selma Blair who’s only 8 years younger than him. She gives a perfect portrayal of a mother trying to keep it all together as well.

They work perfectly as a married couple, who used to be crazy for each other. They were young and wild with lots of dreams, but now they just live for their children and forget themselves.

The kids are a typical teenage daughter, who likes to say “Whatever!” and be on her phone non-stop. The son is still a good and sweet younger kid, but currently in the way of mom and dad living out their dreams.

To me, one of the funniest scenes is Nicolas Cage just bawling because he can’t live the life he wants. And the most intense in when he’s angry that he can’t live the life he wants.

However, these very good scenes also present a problem: Is this a campy horror comedy or a midlife drama? Both elements work really well, but combined? They just take the edge off both directions.

Brian Taylor knows his action

Brian Taylor is the writer-director of Mom and Dad and he definitely knows how to do crazy action! He also wrote and directed Crank starring Jason Statham – and the sequel Crank: High Voltage. I love those movies and cannot bring myself to change the channel if it’s playing. If you haven’t watched them yet, you really should.

The action elements along with the campy bits work so damn well in Mom and Dad. And I really wanted to love the movie as well. As a whole, it’s just not a movie I think I’ll watch again and again. But I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

And if you’re the parent of teenage kids, I’m sure the core plot will resonate even more with you.

The movie premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017. After this it went on to play at Fantastic Fest in the US and Sitges Film Festival in Spain. It also screened at the Molin de Rei Horror Film Festival where it won Brian Taylor the Jury Prize.

Mom and Dad will be out on VOD and in US theaters on January 19, 2018.

Details

Director: Brian Taylor
Writer: Brian Taylor
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair, Anne Winters, Zackary Arthur, Lance Henriksen

Plot

A teenage girl and her little brother must survive a wild 24 hours during which a mass hysteria of unknown origins causes parents to turn violently on their own kids.