Director: Brian Taylor
Writer: Brian Taylor (Screenplay)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair, Anne Winters, Lance Henriksen, Joseph D Reitman, Rachel Melvin, Olivia Crocicchia
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.
Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Great Fun
Story: Mum and Dad starts as we meet the Ryan family father Brent (Cage), mother Kendall (Blair) and bratty children, teenager Carly (Winters) and young Josh (Arthur) who seem like a normal dysfunctional family as the parents must deal with their kids ignorance and poor behavior.
Today is different as the parents for the whole town have become infected by a virus which causes them to go into a rage as they look to kill their own children, Carly must take her first steps of responsibility and protect Josh from their own parents who are hell bent on murdering them.
Thoughts on Mum and Dad
Characters – Brent is the father of the family, on the verge of a mid-life crisis, sports car and man cave in the works to go alongside the job he now hates but must continue you. Kendall is the mother of the family, becoming distant from her daughter, facing the reality she can’t go back to the job she once loved, waiting to just become old now. Carly is the teenage daughter of the family, she is rebellious stealing from her mother, getting high and sneaking out, not really someone you can support through the film. Josh is the youngest member of the family, he is always causing trouble, never seemingly going to school either. This is one of the problems of the film, the kids are pains in the arses and you find yourself rooting for the parents over their kids.
Performances – Nicolas Cage is fantastic to watch in this movie, he needs to be way over the top and he gets to go into full cage mode here. Selma Blair is good in her role, she gets the most conflicted during everything going on and you can see in her performance how she is reacting to each moment. Anne Winters is good, but never becomes the character we need to care enough about.
Story – The story uses a mix of what The Crazies and The Purge has, while the crime isn’t legal, it follows the idea that this is a virus that only seems to last for a day causing people, parents to turn into murders after their own children. This does bring a nice spin onto plenty of genres and gives us an action romp without explaining everything going on, just watching how the kids must find a way to survive, nothing too difficult to watch.
Horror/Thriller – The horror comes from the idea that parents are trying to murder their children, which works because if it being horrific to think about happening.
Settings – Most of the film takes place inside the home as the parents are trying to get to their kids to kill, it shows how home can become the dangerous place when parents snap.
Special Effects – The effects work well for the film, used as and when with most of the kills or attacks happening off camera.
Scene of the Movie – Full Cage moments.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Brent attacking David doesn’t make sense to what is going on in the story.
Final Thoughts – This is an enjoyable horror comedy that pushes the limits of what we can show on film, but it works when you want to watch something so, over the top and mad.
Overall: Fun, Crazy and Completely bonkers.
Rating
