Mom and Dad

Let’s face it: children are simply evil. One minute, you’re enjoying life to the fullest and the next thing you know, you’re pushing a baby carriage and sacrificing your time, money and personal wellbeing for someone who has no consideration for you at all. As the years go passing by, it gets worse and you expect one jab after another until your investment in the perpetuation of the human race tells you to go to hell. But nature sees to it that the parental instinct overcomes even the biggest cheap shot in the end, so that we don’t murder the little bastards. But what would it be like if it were possible to switch off this natural and civilisational impulse? Director and screenwriter Brian Taylor used this obviously strongly introspective stream of thought as the initial premise of his likably rollicking variation on slaughter flicks. Years ago, Taylor gained cult fame in certain circles for his films made in creative tandem with Mark Neveldine. Their formally anarchistic, even avant-garde works such asthe diptych of Crank and Gamer polarised viewers with a cheeky cyberpunk mix of uncontrolled energy, an excessive juvenile fondness for shallowness and corporeality, andan exalted concentration of the multimedia chaos of the new millennium. But that was ten years ago. Though Taylor is miserly when it comes to disclosing details of his private life, his new work meaningfully fills a six-year gap in his filmography. Mom and Dad is thus not merely a hysterical acting performance by Nicolas Cage, but a sincere, unfiltered cry of a person whom the monsters he himself spawned daily attempt to take his life. (05/09/2018)

The film that best describes the mature stage of Nicolas Cage’s acting: over-the-top, inadequate to higher filmmaking standards, but somehow perversely amusing and relentless. Many of you will agree with the statement that kids are annoying pricks, but who would have thought that the fight against them can reach such filmmaking extremes; though unfortunately, only when it comes to the premise, because the creators are afraid of violence and real audience joy is provided only by the performances of Selma Blair and Nicolas (and for a moment also Lance Henriksen, who was born for the role of Cage’s father) and the properly absurd hunt for the two brats in a closed house with all kinds of tools. If Taylor hadn’t ruined the last part with those pointless flashbacks and had pushed the envelope further, this could have been a lot more fun. 55% (01/22/2019)

If I had such brats at home, I would also kill them one day. Unfortunately, Nicolas Cage is doing a lot of overacting here. His character is way more deranged than necessary. I was somewhat looking forward to his interaction with Lance Henriksen, but it seems there was not much to expect. When you have the feeling the film is finally rolling, the ending credits appear all of a sudden. And to top it all, there’s not a hint of humour. Weak. (06/20/2018)

A brutal satire on family relationships, as a new variant of Covid forces parents to kill their children. The black-humored story, with a madcap Cage and a terrifying Selma Blair, works perfectly, not least because the children are killed off-screen. The upbeat electronic soundtrack also helps a lot. A suspenseful bloodbath with a nice final twist where parents cheer for parents and the childless cheer for children. (05/02/2023)

Not even Edgar Wright would have the balls to make this! An anarchistic, anti-family black comedy along the lines of Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead where it’s not zombies doing the massacring, but parents – of their own children. And the kids must save themselves from their crazy moms and dads while we root for them! Mom and Dad is an American suburban satire serving as a kind of wish-fulfilment for exhausted parents (sorry, kids!). The highly effective soundtrack mostly consist of modern ambient electronic music, but occasionally comes across as a parody of Spielbergian family musical motifs. Plus there are some wonderful editing tricks. A silly, but perfectly executed and courageous movie! [Sitges FF] (10/07/2017)