There is no greater gift than motherhood, for both the parent and children – having someone to care for you and nurture you as you age (whether biological or adopted or simply motherly figures that guide your life) can stand someone in good stead as they make their way through life. However, there is a darker side to the concept that many tend to ignore, particularly because the relationship between a mother and her children is usually viewed as extremely sacred, to the point where challenging it can feel somewhat taboo if not done correctly. However, this did not stop Max and Sam Eggers from using it as the basis for their directorial debut, in which they follow in the footsteps of their acclaimed brother Robert by crafting a daring psychological horror centred around domestic life and the challenges that come with realizing the darker side of the family, something that has factored into a few of his previous works. Their film is The Front Room, which is based around a very simple premise – a heavily pregnant former university professor finds her life thrown into disarray when her husband’s father dies and his sickly, frail stepmother moves into their home, feeling like it is only appropriate for them to take her in to live out her final days, which she refuses to spend alone. What starts as a merely uncomfortable arrangement turns into full-scale psychological warfare between the two women, as they engage in a vicious game of cat-and-mouse, desperate to assert their dominance over one another, before it eventually escalates to the point of being not only unbearable but a life-and-death situation, especially as more secrets about this malicious older woman begin to emerge. A darkly comical examination of traditional family structure, carefully handcrafted by a pair of directors who prove that the ability to handle some very challenging concepts through the lens of horror runs in their family, The Front Room is a fascinating work, and a great debut for the Eggers Brothers, who create something truly unconventional and unquestionably daring in both form and content.

When it comes to delivering the message of the film, the Eggers Brothers prioritize making their intentions clear, rather than concealing it under layers of dense commentary, leading to The Front Room being quite open about its narrative and what it represents. There are many categories of horror, but the one that seems to be most unsettling (regardless of the extent to which it is scary) are those that take place in the domestic space – our homes are our sanctuaries, and where we retreat from the perils and frustrations of the outside world. The moment some sinister forces, whether earthly or supernatural, enter into that space, the more uncomfortable we become. They use this as the initial point from which this film grows many of its fascinating conversations. Motherhood, as we mentioned already, is the primary theme that drives the story and is the most important aspect in understanding the message lurking beneath the surface of the film. There are various kinds of motherhood reflected in this film, with the two central characters being maternal figures in different ways – Belinda is a woman who has dedicated her life to studying cultures in which they worshipped maternal figures, but who has been struggling to have children of her own. Conversely, Solange fashions herself as a very similar kind of matriarch, despite occupying two of the most vilified positions of the family structure, that of the wicked stepmother and the evil mother-in-law, being only marginally tethered to the couple at the heart of the film through marriage, but yet believing herself to be some kind of powerful force that must be in command, despite her being an outsider that bother Belinda and her husband wish to remove from their life as soon as possible. This leads to some fascinating commentary on the role of mothers in society, as well as the corruption of the family unit, which we are shown in vivid detail as these two women battle for dominance and eventually survival. It’s not the most positive view of motherhood, but it touches on some raw themes that create a sense of unease, and facilitate some genuinely disconcerting moments of unhinged horror scattered liberally throughout this film.

One of the great novelties of a lot of contemporary horror films, particularly those that attempt to be more artistically resonant, is that casting tends to be quite out-of-the-box and daring in a lot of instances, and we find actors that we’d never expect to find working in the genre making quite an impression. Most of the appeal of The Front Room comes in the pairing of Brandy Norwood, who is best known as a singer and comedic actor (although she has dipped her toes into horror in the past, with the iconic I Still Know What You Did Last Summer), and Kathryn Hunter, who has recently emerged out of relative obscurity after years of dominating on stage and flourishing into one of the most beguiling screen presences of the last decade. The idea of these two artists not only working together but being paired on an intense psychological horror is enough to pique our curiosity – and mercifully, both of them deliver. Brandy is a fantastic lead, making use of her unique charisma to create a character that is fascinating to watch, but not lacking in nuance in the areas where it matters. Her performance as a newly-minted parent who is slowly spiralling into a state of paranoia and panic as a result of her mother-in-law waging psychological warfare is excellent, and she makes up for the sometimes ambigious nature of the character with her wholehearted commitment to the role. Hunter has the privilege of being able to be unhinged from the first moment (something that Brandy didn’t have, as she needed to be the voice of reason for the most part), and it is difficult to imagine any actor doing this role more justice. The character of Solange is one that requires someone who could capture all sides of her villainy – her physical movements that exist somewhere between human and demonic, her voice (as well as the delivery of every line, each one needing to be impactful, even those that are not all that important in the context of the story), and the general personality of the character – and Hunter is beyond dedicated to creating this truly evil character that is somehow both sympathetic and vile, which is a polarity that the film does manage to explore quite well. Both actors are tremendous, and they play off each other brilliantly, anchoring this film and convincing us of its merits in even the most absurd moments.

As fascinating as it may be due to certain elements, The Front Room is also the kind of film that lends itself to being divisive, and the general atmosphere of disappointment surrounding the film has been fascinating to observe, especially amongst those who criticize the bizarre nature of the premise, and the fact that it is more unsettling than it is terrifying. However, once we peer beneath the obvious layers and begin to recognize certain elements, we start to see the actual ingenuity that went into the creation of this film. The Eggers Brothers were not attempting to create a film that exists on the same level as a lot of contemporary works of acclaimed horror, but rather actively lampooning the concept of “elevated” horror, a tacky term that has done more harm to the genre than it has good. The Front Room is not attempting to be scary – it is a darkly comedic deconstruction of this recent trend of horror films that have taken aim at familiar concepts and try to pass themselves off as immensely daring works of art, when in reality they are often just as predictable, especially considering they tend to be overblown in reputation by those who look down on more conventional works. A film about a woman being terrorized by her sinister mother-in-law is already a ludicrous concept, but then we discover certain elements that only make it more outrageous – the dark history of the United States is evoked as a plot point, the relationship between the characters constantly shifts to the point where we actually start to question the morality of the supposed good-hearted protagonist, and generally the entire premise simply exists as some enormously layered joke designed to show that audiences are somehow conditioned to search for deeper meaning in horror films, when in reality this film is intentionally quite hollow, despite positioning itself as some immensely daring work of intellectual horror, when in reality it deliberately inane and unhinged. Whether or not this was intentional is not clear (especially since there is never a moment where it seems like the directors are making their true aims with this story clear), but the satirical elements are simply too obvious to not be taken as somewhat intended.

While it is very entertaining and frequently seems to have much bigger ideas than it seems to make clear on the surface, The Front Room is not going to be seen as some definitive work of horror, especially since it is rarely terrifying and is focused less on the experience and more on the atmosphere. However, as a satire of contemporary trends of the genre, it is quite genius, especially if we approach it with a sense of humour and the willingness to look at it from a more intentionally comedic perspective. The performances of the two leads are wonderful and genuinely compelling and lead to a film that frequently pushes the boundaries of its ideas while remaining secure in what it intends to say and do with this material. It’s far from perfect, and some of its ideas can be slightly more limited, but it’s undeniable that this film knows how to hold our attention – the grotesque imagery coupled with the underlying sense of dread makes for a pointed commentary on the nature of the family unit, which the directors imply is not nearly as idyllic and pleasant as we have been led to believe. It’s a very entertaining film, and one that does accomplish what it set out to do, albeit in a manner far more simple than it may have been in a more complex work of horror. They may not have the visual eye for detail and ability to evoke as strong an atmosphere as their brother, but it is clear the younger Eggers Brothers are both gifted in their way, and can potentially be considered exciting new voices in a genre that is always benefitting from unique perspectives, especially those that are this unconventional and unnerving.