The Parenting

Screened on Max.

I'm not sure this is a film I really want, or really need to review, in the same way I wouldn't want to fully "review" say National Lampoon's Vacation, or The Money Pit. Those are excellent but breezy films, and don't really call for in-depth analysis (even though I could likely write separate books about each of them, they are that classic). All you really want to know is if it's fun, and funny. Or if a horror movie is scary. Point being, that is exactly what this film from director Craig Johnson (The Skeleton Twins) is, a fun, perfect background movie, along with it being an overall very pleasant surprise.

As some YouTubers I follow said about The Parenting, I also expected this to be more of a "product movie" - content, if you will - but it turns out to be deceivingly good. Instead of this feeling more like corporate product (which it really IS, of course, at the end of the day) or the kind of dreck that turns the stomach of pretty much anyone with any semblance of taste, this is more than decent. Adjectives that come to mind: loopy, nuts, bizarre, hilarious, fun, graphic, quirky, stylish, fresh. At the same time, this isn't a must see, I can still see how some really don't have a taste for this. It's vibes at times can be strikingly similiar to that aforementioned dreck I can't stand. But what I'm here to tell you is, if you're looking for some moderately subservise fun and horror, this is 100% worth of you giving it a chance, as my strong hunch it you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was.