Wow. I feel that is the most fitting word to use as the first word of this review after seeing Mom and Dad. Where do I begin? I’m so glad to see Nicolas Cage back in one of his crazy roles again. I’m tired of seeing him cast as these “normal” characters, and that is definitely not what happened here. This movie is classic Nick Cage, and I love it. Definitely not a straight horror movie, but absolutely a dark enough comedy to warrant a review, Mom and Dad delivers the punch it promised in the trailers. With a plot familiar to M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening”, this movie also sees its characters become killers for apparently no reason. Only in this film, they don’t stop until their children are dead.

I know you might be thinking that’s too dark of a plot to be entertaining, and I can see how it might be for some, but for those of you who can stomach seeing parents trying to murder their offspring, then give this movie a shot. It is still a comedy – albeit a dark one – so there are funny scenes and jokes throughout, they just happen to be in between scenes of teenagers running from their parents. Honestly, I feel like parents will enjoy this more, as sick as that may seem, because at one time or another all parents have (figuratively) wanted to murder their kids, and I think that’s the “feeling” the filmmakers were trying to play on. Typing this ridiculous paragraph out, I can’t help but laugh at how horrible it sounds, but trust me, the movie is not that bad. There is one funny scene in which a man is running around trying to kill his kid, but then the man’s father shows up and chases the man, resulting in a cartoonish scene with three people all running around the house trying to escape the clutches of their pursuer.

Looking at my notes that I took while watching the movie, I also can’t help but laugh as I read the first line, “They are just jumping right into the chaos and HOLY SHIT!” That, I believe, is the perfect summation of how you will feel after the first 10 minutes of Mom and Dad. Well, maybe not your initial feeling – that feeling is reserved for the awkwardness brought on by the “music” in the beginning, which is a really odd mixture of clicking and water droplets. It’s very strange music. As I was saying, this movie is crazy, shocking, and outrageous. The plot is unheard of and completely taboo and I freaking love this movie. Without Nicolas Cage, I feel like the movie would still have been good but definitely not great. His antics and odd behavior and general “Cage-iness” meld perfectly with his character, and I really want to believe that character was written with him in mind. I’m trying to be as general as possible because I don’t want to give anything away, but now that I think about it, you already know what happens.

The homicidal behavior of the parents appears to be brought on by something coming through static, whether it’s static on the radio or TV or even computer monitor. Something happens when the parents hear the static and they immediately snap, but it’s an odd snap. See, they don’t want to kill other people’s children, only their own. In fact, they appear to behave normally to the children of others, even while killing their own! There’s one scene where the media is interviewing a parent who just killed their kid and he feels terrible about what is happening, but completely justified with killing his own kid. I’m telling you, the setting is unbelievable. In the end, we’re never given an explanation as to why it’s happening, nor does it cease. There’s no resolution to anyone’s story and society is presumably in turmoil. Considering how short the movie is, I think this ending could have been better. It’s a shame because I loved the rest of the movie, I just really think the ending could have been better.

This will make a good Friday night horror movie to watch with friends, just make sure those friends are open-minded and prepared to laugh at such a dark plot.

This movie is…

Absolutely insane.

Cheers and goodnight.