The Parenting was an unexpected delight of a comedy horror movie that provided a perfect balance of camp and possession. Now available on Max, the supernatural horror centers around a couple that has rented a countryside house for the weekend so their parents could meet. What they don’t expect is for said house to be inhabited by a 400-year-old poltergeist. And when it possesses one of them, it becomes a fight for that person’s soul while also trying to stay alive.
Without dipping too much into spoiler territory, I really enjoyed that the couple at the heart of The Parenting was a queer couple. Yes, the movie was horror. And yes one of the family members ends up getting possessed. But the happy couple, they’re like me. They’re queer and in love and they just want their parents to get along. That right there is what I want when I talk about needing LGBTQ+ storylines to be normalized. They’re like every other loving couple in horror movies but they’re two men. No one makes a big deal about it when the actual haunting/possession is.
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Cast wise, I’m not too familiar with the couple at the heart of The Parenting, actors Nik Dodani as Rohan and Brandon Flynn as Josh. But this movie did convince me to look up more of their work. I do recognize Edie Falco from The Sopranos as Sharon, Brian Cox from Succession as Frank, Dean Norris from Breaking Bad as Cliff, and Lisa Kudrow from Friends as liddy. They all did a great job in developing their characters and keeping the viewer’s eye on them. But Parker Posey as Brenda was just magical. She manages to consistently find this balance between odd and terrifying that had you entertained but also greatly concerned. And the things that her character did… if you’ve watched enough horror movies, you’d recognize the beats from a mile away.
Now this is where we get into major spoilers for The Parenting…
I did not expect The Parenting to have so many emotional and real conversations. There was of course the sacrifice from Rohan at the end of the movie and Josh following in his lead. Afterwards, I loved the conversation about sacrifice and the sweet proposal. They got their happy ending and they came out stronger because of it. The two moms also had a really great and touching conversation about expectations and how you have to let your kids go out there and learn how to be themselves. I even loved the conversation between Rohan and his friend Sara, played by Vivian Bang. At the end of the day we just want to be loved and understood by our family.
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Filming wise, I really liked all the choices that were made when it comes to the actual styling and atmosphere. It was very clear from Sharon and Frank’s outfits, the kind of people that they were. And the viewer could piece together the high expectations Rohan had to live up to. At the same time, we also knew what kind of people Liddy and Cliff were in the context of Josh. And that was through their open and honest dialogue. It was distinct and easy to follow who they were because The Parenting laid down some groundwork with them.
Atmospheric-wise aka when it comes to filmography, I really like the transition between the snow globe and the outside world beginning to also snow. I also like the way that the camera teased the demon in the beginning that took the mother. You saw that door opening and closing and playing up on the expectation kept me on the edge of my seat, especially if you love horror like I do. The same thing goes for the peeling wallpaper and the glowing light on Allie’s face when she died. They were all choices that made the movie richer.
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Special effects wise, I thought that The Parenting found a way to make these ghosts and the demon comedic but also utterly terrified. There was that moment where the possessed Frank was floating behind Sharon and was trying to get attention. His fingers grazed her hair and Sharon just brushed it off as something annoying and kept going. It was silly, yet terrifying, especially with the way he looked. Even the ghost that Rohan stumbled upon in the house had me laughing. She was trying to help him. And when it was made clear that the message didn’t get across, the ghost just shrugged like “What can you do?” while looking terrifying with that distorted mouth.
That’s not to say that The Parenting isn’t without faults. Sometimes I felt like the movie was too crass for no reason. They already had the bones of a great cast and interesting storyline. There was no reason to make the demon’s homophobia so blatant. They are a demon and probably think like humans, with their biblical limitations and morals. And there was no reason to do that to the demonic dog to get them off of Liddy. It reminded me of The Hangover-style humor that is supposed to push things to the limit but ends up being forgettable and cringe instead of funny in the first place.
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Conclusion
Overall, The Parenting was a fun weekend watch with a stacked cast that tells a story that stands out from the continuous churning out of sequel or reboot. Combine that with the LGBTQ+ representation, and it’s a solid “yes” for me. Yes, I would probably watch this again, especially during Halloween. And yes, you should probably check it out if you like horror, camp, and a gay couple that actually makes it out alive.
What did you think of The Parenting? Let us know in the comments below!
Queerly Not Straight posts Saturdays (most of the time) with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community.
