MOVIE: Mom And Dad
STARRING: Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair, Anne Winters, Zackary Arthur, Robert T. Cunningham, Olivia Crocicchia
RELEASE DATE: September 9th, 2017
WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Amazon Prime, Hulu, Vudu, Starz)
By Justin Pomerville (2 Broke Geeks)
Kendall Ryan (Selma Blair) and Brent Ryan (Nicolas Cage) in Mom and Dad
Parenting is supposed to be considered one of the great accomplishments in life by some people. The ability to bring new life into the world and shape them so they can continue to make the most out of their lives. But, this week’s Nic Gauge film asks the question, what if your parents actually try to kill you?
This film’s plot is extremely simple. The main story is Brent (played by Cage) and his wife, Kendall (played by Selma Blair) are stuck in a lifeless and loveless marriage with their children, Carly (played by Anne Winters) and Josh (played by Zackary Arthur). On this specific day, with no real explanation, all the parents around the world are trying to murder their kids. Josh and Carly must now figure out how to survive their parents’ ongoing murdering ways.
The beauty of this plot's simplicity is that it’s just a modern zombie film, but instead of zombies, it’s your parents. It’s never explained the switch that makes them become murderers, but the parents are still able to go about their daily routines afterward as if nothing happened. Most of the time, that would be a major plot hole, because there is no real conclusion about how this has happened. By the end, there still is no answer. It’s just a self-contained film, much like many zombie films. The weird part is that is the point throughout the film. Each member of the family has a flashback about something that has some sort relevance to the plot, but barely. An example is Brent being angry that he can’t have a man cave and destroying a brand new pool table he just finished building.
Brent Ryan (Nicolas Cage) in Mom and Dad
The acting is ok overall. Nic Cage as a performer, and as usual for his films, steals the show. His dedication to being partially caring and trapped in his marriage is very obvious. But when the “turn” happens, he does change over to the more insane kind of Cage we are used to. Combined with Selma Blair’s acting of being the grounded smart parent/killer, they have great moments together. This film lands firmly on the edge of “Good” and “OK” on the Nic Gauge.
