Sean Parker
Introducing your partner to your parents can be a nerve-wracking experience. Such is the case for The Parenting’s Rohan (Twisters’ Nik Dodani) and Josh (Hellraiser 2022’s Brandon Flynn), who have decided to whisk their polar opposite parents away to a cozy, isolated Airbnb in the woods to get to know each other as Rohan prepares to ask Josh to marry him. Essentially, everything must be perfect, and the trailers for the film have assured us that nothing will be. With an ensemble cast that features Succession’s Brian Cox and The Sopranos’ Edie Falco playing Rohan’s reserved parents pitted next to Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris and Friends’ Lisa Kudrow as more laid-back types, there’s hope that The Parenting will be a fun expedition into awkward family meetings, and that’s not even mentioning the additional plot point of their getaway rental being haunted.
Craig Johnson, the director who gave us the truly underrated The Skeleton Twins, returns with The Parenting, a Meet The Parents farce in a haunted house by way of an Army of Darkness-inspired wi-fi password that opens a gateway for an ancient evil to possess Rohan’s father (Cox). Seeing the trailer, I had high hopes for Max’s new horror-comedy, if only for wondering what a possessed Brian Cox would entail.
Cox had two films premiere this past weekend; a voiceover role in Netflix’s The Electric State is the other. However, The Parenting seemingly offered the better opportunity for his character to tell the rest of the cast to f*ck off as his Emmy award-nominated character Logan Roy might, and quite honestly, I miss that love/hate relationship with Logan. If I’m being honest, the entire ensemble helped draw me into this supernatural feature because, for a story that intends to one-up the anxieties of relationship hallmarks, it never touches the levels of lunacy you wish it would.
The scenes and jokes previewed in The Parenting’s trailer act like a compilation of the film’s best scenes. This is why I try my best to avoid trailers. The Parenting has some silly and utterly irreverent moments worthy of drumming up some big laughs, but if you found the trailer amusing, the effects are weaker on the second go-round. If you don’t know anything about The Parenting outside of what I’ve mentioned in the previous paragraphs, consider not checking out the trailer at the bottom of the page and going in blind. I’m convinced you’ll have a much better experience.
I’ve also been seeing other reviewers compare The Parenting to Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. While I can see inferences, occasional cartoonishly green lighting, and Parker Posey’s character resembling Lydia Deetz in a flashback sequence, a big part of their argument hangs on a musical table scene that feels far more referential to My Best Friend’s Wedding than that of the ghost with the most’s iconic “Day-O.” Still, after hearing that and then seeing the film, I thought several other films were similarly referential, such as the vacation aspects of High Spirits, the snow-covered chamber piece and ensemble aspects of Krampus, and some of the situational group dynamic elements of the far funnier The Blackening. So, if you’re expecting Beetlejuice, you may want to adjust your thinking.
Regardless, The Parenting manages to stand on its own thanks to its cast’s incredible chemistry and penchant for comedic timing. Though Brian Cox is undoubtedly the draw as a dualistic character, Edie Falco is at her comedic best as an unbreakable straight character. A psychologist who legitimately cannot believe what her eyes are seeing, Falco gets Office level awkward when her son’s boyfriend walks in on her in the restroom and proceeds to deny it ever happened rather than address it. Also, Parker Posey is a scene stealer in her limited role as the flighty Airbnb hostess, and it’s nice to see her momentarily reteam with her Clockwatchers costar, Lisa Kudrow.
My biggest gripe with The Parenting is that for as existential the ghostly threat is, it’s far too hokey to provide any heightened atmosphere. The film has a lot of odd parody energy that, even when flesh is getting seared as a warning, rarely produces any feeling of terror. And if you’re saying, “Well, Sean, that sounds closer to Beetlejuice,” you would be correct. However, it still misses the mark because Beetlejuice envelops you in an imaginative world of Kafkaesque afterlife bureaucrats and creative monstrous makeup effect moments that make Beetlejuice, the character, feel slightly dangerous. The Parenting feels like it’s missing something in its story that would satisfy the edge necessary to bring the whole thing to the next level. It’s entertaining, but it’s a film that you say, “That was nice,” and move on from it.
Ultimately, The Parenting isn’t bad; it’s a solid three-star film that will keep your attention, brought up significantly by the cast’s adaptability, likability, and chemistry. It occasionally seems like the type of film studios expect you to be on your phone through. The acting is so far beyond the scope of its story that that alone makes it worth a watch, but I strongly hope this isn’t the future of movies.
The Parenting is streaming exclusively on Max.
