There comes a point in every relationship where it starts to become serious, often signalled by one particular event – the act of meeting your partner’s parents. In many cases, this happens quite early on and is a relatively painless procedure in which you get to know the people that will become part of your extended family in an ideal scenario. In others, it’s hopelessly daunting and quite uncomfortable in many cases, which is certainly the more appropriate approach when exploring this concept in terms of making a comedy. For about as long as we’ve had films about people falling in love, we’ve had stories about the challenges that come with interacting with your prospective partner’s parents – in fact, entire franchises have been launched on this very idea. They’re funny, charming and ultimately quite easy to embrace, primarily because of their steadfast commitment to taking these awkward scenarios and realising that they are fertile ground for comedic romps. Yet, we haven’t seen many that take further risks, such as in terms of the genre, which is precisely where The Parenting comes in. The film, which is directed by Craig Johnson from a screenplay by Kent Sublette, follows Josh and Rohan, a happy couple who have settled into a state of pleasant domesticity, and it seems like only a matter of time before they get married. However, they both decide to take the next step and book a quaint mansion in pastoral Massachusetts, where they intend to spend a weekend with their parents, who had not met each other, causing a lot of anxiety to both protagonists. However, these nerves are quickly replaced by fear when it becomes clear that their rental is also home to a sinister entity that has very clear motives, leading to an evening of extreme brutality and despair as the characters scramble to escape, which proves to be a much more difficult task than they imagined. A peculiar but outrageously funny film in which Johnson aims several themes, The Parenting is unexpectedly brilliant, and proves to be a far more compelling work than we’d imagine based on a cursory glance.

At first, nothing about The Parenting suggests that it is going to be some wildly successful work of horror – neither the writer nor director had much experience in horror, with Sublette being best known as a writer on Saturday Night Live, and Johnson the severely underrated mind behind The Skeleton Twins and Wilson, two films that deserved much more acclaim and admiration than they received. Yet, we can argue that this film was never aiming to be more than the sum of its parts, and thematically, it’s easy to understand precisely where the appeal of this narrative resides. There’s something so captivating about a film that knows how to pander to its audience without becoming too intense, and understands where to underline certain concepts, and which can be provoked without additional work. In the case of this film, they are looking at an experience that many consider to be terrifying – the act of meeting the parents – and reconfigure it to be quite literally the foundation for a horror film. Perhaps it is quite on-the-nose throughout, but subtlety was never a priority for anyone involved in this film, so it only makes sense that the entire foundation of The Parenting would be built on highlighting its themes quite clearly, and making it profoundly more obvious what the film is about. However, there are still various twists and turns throughout the film that far exceed the limits of what this film seems to be aiming to achieve, even if some of them seem to come about as the result of happy accidents more than being particularly intentional. Johnson in particular has been drawn to stories of awkward interactions and how there is something quite charming about the inherent human comedy in which we are all performers, and while the film does lean more heavily into the humour, his first foray into horror is still quite marvelous, even if it does come across as slightly more tame than we may expect, based on the extent to which it seems to be willing to work this concept.

While it’s not universal, it is generally considered a good rule of thumb to choose the right actors to handle any kind of horror-based material. Not every film in this genre is going to aspire to be some immensely brilliant work in terms of its acting, but it is nonetheless very common to find the most effective films being those that have strong leads or ensembles. In the case of The Parenting, the cast is stellar – somehow, Johnson manages to cobble together quite a remarkable cast, consisting of a blend of veterans and younger stars, all of whom are quite wonderful. The two leads are portrayed by Brandon Flynn and Nik Dodani, and while they may not have quite the abundance of chemistry that we may expect, they’re solid and bring a lot of heart to the film, especially when it comes to underlining the relationship between the characters. However (except a couple of moments where Flynn is leaning heavily into the comedy), they’re intentionally made the least-interesting characters, primarily because the film, as we’d expect from the title, is more about the parents, which is where the true brilliance lies. Whatever compelled the producers to assemble a quartet consisting of Brian Cox, Edie Falco, Lisa Kudrow and Dean Norris as the leads’ parents is not clear, but it is obvious that they’re all tremendous, and are wholeheartedly committed to the bizarre premise, elevating it much further than anyone would have expected at first. Cox is unsurprisingly the standout, insofar as he becomes the de facto villain midway through, but he also does very well in playing off his trademark grumpiness in surprising and endearing ways. Falco is a riot as his uptight wife, while Kudrow and Norris are the perfect happy-go-lucky suburban parents with a slightly offbeat sensibility that hints at something much deeper beneath the surface. The cast is rounded out by Vivian Bang as the quirky best friend of the protagonist, and Parker Posey (covertly delivering the best performance in the film despite having the least time on screen), who is the embodiment of all the film’s eccentricities. It’s a tremendous cast, and the film is worth watching solely for the interactions between these actors, all of whom are truly fantastic.

There’s a tendency to take any contemporary horror film – especially those that convey even a slightly elevated sense of intelligence and self-awareness – and filter it through layers of discourse in the hopes of provoking some deeper meaning, when in reality, there very rarely is anything worth discussing beyond what is painfully obvious. The Parenting is a fascinating example of how this practice is acknowledged and turned entirely on its head, since it leads us to believe that the terror experienced by these characters is indicative of something more profound and complex, when in reality, all that this film intended to be was a wacky, off-the-wall blend of comedy and horror designed to be taken entirely at face value, to the point where it openly mocks those who want to read too much into the narrative, which is why I suspect it has been received with quite polarising reactions. At its core, The Parenting is simply a film that allows itself to be outrageously stupid and inane, knowing that the audience will undoubtedly be onboard with it once they realise that this is not something to be taken seriously. Even if we are aware of what the film is about, there are some very surprising elements – the sudden bursts of horror (which are quite terrifying, even if every one of them is played for laughs) do come as a surprise, not necessarily in terms of the plot mechanics, but rather in how we didn’t quite expect the film to move in certain directions. However, it ultimately makes its way back to the comedic core, and in allowing itself to nestle into a state of absolute absurdity, it finds its groove and becomes unexpectedly effective in ways that we may not necessarily have expected. It’s well-made enough to be viewed as a film that is wholeheartedly in command of what it intends to say, but gradually lowers itself more into the bizarre elements in a way that we find quite innovative, even when it is playing some very common notes that anyone familiar with the genre will immediately recognise.

While it may not redefine either the comedy or horror genres, and exists primarily as a film that is designed to be mindlessly entertaining, The Parenting is still unquestionably worth every moment of our time, being a carefully-crafted blend of genres that create a unique and intriguing set of circumstances that we can truly appreciate as more than just the most surface-level attempts at drawing audiences in, and instead acts as the foundation for a sincerely compelling film that is as enjoyable as it is covertly quite provocative. The beauty of this film is not found in its intentions to be innovative, but rather to challenge common perceptions of familiar subjects – there’s a peculiarity to this film that we find quite endearing, almost as if it is aware that it exists on the outskirts of logic, a fact that it entirely embraces. Johnson is not a director who has yet found his niche – his previous works have been terrific, but they’re quite straightforward, and while we may not imagine him developing much of a career in horror (as mentioned before, this film does play as more of a comedy than anything else), he does have a distinctive flair that hints at his masterpiece not being too far off, granted he can retain this firm independence that has guided most of his films to date. The Parenting is a lot of fun – it isn’t afraid to be broad and to aim for the low-hanging fruit, with the primary difference between this film and those which do the same but are much less successful being found in the outright refusal to take itself too seriously, being in on the joke just as much as we are. Hilarious and irreverent, but also with a tender core and a lot of very impressive filmmaking that is never the focus, but rather surprising additions to an already engrossing work that will likely become a cult classic as time progresses and more viewers can witness the deranged brilliance of this delightfully horrifying little romp.