A horror comedy about a gay couple's parents both meeting for the first time is a great idea, especially when they're played by the likes of Lisa Kudrow, Dean Norris, Edie Falco and Brian Cox. But somehow "The Parenting," debuting on streaming service Max, just barely misses its mark. Nothing works here, from the setup to the punchline, the aim is straight but, alas, never hits the target, which is ironic, since almost the entire story takes place in a single location.
Nik Dodani and Brandon Flynn play Rohan and Josh, respectively, a young couple who we meet driving with their dog to a secluded residence they've rented for the weekend. They're very much in love, but the thought of meeting each other's parents is enough pressure, let alone the parents themselves meeting too. Too bad the house is haunted.
The film actually opens in the 1980's, where a mom and her teenage son and daughter are seemingly killed by an unseen entity. It's likely a demon, since the wallpaper is seen peeling from the walls right before the attacks. I'm sure that hurts the resell value.
It turns out the girl and her friend summoned Andras, who both the film and interwebs tells me is a particularly nasty demon with the head of a bird who can control storms, among other things.
Who ya gonna call? Wait sorry, wrong yet infinitely better film.
Anyway, back in the present day. The couple arrives first, greeted by a strange caretaker played by Parker Posey, who may or may not be wearing a wig (spoiler, she is). She gives them a gift basket and the wifi password, then heads out. Well, she draws a circle around the house with a stick, then heads out. Probably nothing to worry about, I mean, free stick! I'm sure the doggo will love the stick- wait never mind, she took it with her. That's what counts as a joke in "The Parenting."
Soon both parents show up, and while Liddy and Cliff (Kudrow and Norris), Josh's folks, are pleasant middle-class people, Sharon and Frank (Falco and Cox), Rohan's adopted kin, are a bit more standoffish. The family frustrations continue into that night, Sharon in particular is upset when she learns that Rohan lied about Josh having a job, though Frank seems more mildly uncomfortable with being there at all; honestly, he gets more worked up about the wifi password not working than anything else.
Ah yes, the wifi password! It's a weird one, a Latin phrase that may or may not welcome a demon in. And wouldn't ya know it, that darn Frank just happens to be just what that demon is looking for. The effects start with him cutting Josh with a bread knife, then walking around naked, erm, excitedly, and eventually tries to kill his wife. The family locks him in a room as they try to figure out just what the heck is going on. There's a lot of screaming at each other, sudden figures dressed in 80's attire attacking, etc., and while there is some chaotic energy to these moments, the dialogue just isn't very funny, and the feeble attempts at jump scares don't scare.
"The Parenting" is a classic example of a film where all the best parts are shown in the trailer, a short minute or two of dissonant clips that promise a better movie. But the remaining ninety-ish minutes are dead air, talented actors struggling to make a bologna of a script be a worthwhile one. And what's so irritating is you can see how this whole thing could be funny, there is no edge to the material. Take, for example, the insinuated insecurities Frank has with his son being gay- until he's possessed, he's just been cold and distant, not homophobic. So is the demon just bigoted, or the dad deep-down? Even if the film answered that, so what? Seeing an old man yell about his homosexual son's purportedly petite penis isn't necessarily humorous, it's just unnecessary.
If you're horror comedy is not going to be funny, you better make sure it's scary. The only scary thing here is that someone thought this was funny.
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