By Anthony Caruso
When I saw the trailer for The Front Room, I thought it looked like a very self-aware horror-comedy that could be a lot of fun. After all, is there anyone on this planet, regardless of how well they get along with their in-laws, who can't relate to the "mother-in-law from hell" trope? So, I was immediately in after watching the trailer. And it helped that Brandy was set to star after being M.I.A. for years. Unfortunately, The Front Room was not the film that its trailers advertised. It's billed and marketed as a horror movie, but this is absolutely not a horror film. At best, it's a dark comedy. And one that amounts to nothing whatsoever at that! As such, I can see a lot of people getting pissed off with this one.
On its surface, The Front Room is about Belinda, a newly pregnant woman whose life goes to hell when her elderly mother-in-law, Solange, moves in after her husband dies. Now, the trailers made it seem like Solange was after the baby, possessed by a demon posing as the holy spirit. If that was the case, this would have been a far more interesting and fun movie; not to mention a far more focused one. Unfortunately, at its core, this film is merely about a mother-in-law who is trying to make life as difficult for her stepson and his bride as possible, seemingly for no reason at all. Is it because Belinda is black and Solange is a proud daughter of the United States Confederacy? I think the movie tries to be about racism at times, but more often than not, it’s directionless and doesn't know what it's about. Yes, it appears to be about racism a lot of the time. But at times it's about the body horror that's associated with pregnancy. Other times it's about motherhood. And yet, at other times it's about religion. For much of the movie, it's about the loss of dignity that comes with aging (shown by a lot of scenes involving shit). That's the biggest flaw with this film, it's completely directionless and doesn't know what it wants to be about. As such, feels overstuffed with undercooked ideas, all of which amount to a boring third act that amounts to absolutely nothing.
The film was not only written by Sam and Max Eggers but directed by them, too. To cinephiles the name "Eggers" will be associated with "Robert Eggers" of The Witch, The Northman, The Lighthouse, and the upcoming Nosferatu fame. I can only imagine his brothers got this gig based on nepotism alone. Direction-wise, they do nothing special and don't seem to have a unique style or even a coherent vision. Their screenplay is badly paced and gets progressively worse as it goes along. In their defense, this movie is based on Susan Hill's story of the same name, so I don't know if the source material is this bad or not. But given the fact that Hill wrote the incredibly scary "The Woman in Black", I find it hard to believe that's the case, and I have to believe that the Eggers brothers botched the material when adapting it for the screen.
In terms of the cast, it's mainly three people: Brandy as Belinda, Kathryn Hunter as Solange, and Andrew Burnap as Norman, Belinda's husband and Solange's stepson. Burnap is nearly a non-entity in this film. Brandy does the best she can with the material she's given and, honestly, it was so nice to see her starring in a movie again that she could have completely phoned it in and I'd have been happy. It's Kathryn Hunter's transformative performance as Solange that steals the show, however. Not only does she completely disappear into the role, thanks to a phenomenal makeup job, but between her grating accent, her disgusting demeanor, her overbearing nature, and her racist double entendres, Hunter truly makes Solange a despicable character you want to see drop dead, even if, in the end, she's merely a woman and there's nothing supernatural going on whatsoever.
I know it sounds like I hate this movie, but I truly don't. Granted, it's nothing special, and I don't know if I'd ever stop to watch it again unless literally nothing else was on television. But it's fun for what it is when you get past the fact that its trailers sold you a false bill of goods and that you're not getting a supernatural horror flick. Would I recommend rushing to theaters to see this one? Absolutely not - especially if you don't have A-List or you're not part of some other movie membership club. But on a rainy Sunday afternoon if you see it pop up on TBS and need something to watch, and there's nothing better on television, I think it's worth a viewing. As long as you temper your expectations accordingly, you might enjoy yourself! Especially since there are far worse movies than this one out there, and far worse movies that have been released this year alone!