The last few years have been ripe with Gen Z-based comedy horror films, and I’ve disliked most of them. As in the case of movies like Bodies Bodies Bodies, this subgenre is too often populated with parody that mocks a notable generation in a derisive way without really saying much that’s new. After being further disappointed with attempts like Bottoms, I started to think that balancing Gen Z humor while still being actually funny may have been too much to ask from 2020s films. Then I watched The Parenting.
Though the movie kicks back in time, The Parenting is a modern-day horror comedy about the universal fear of meeting your partner’s parents for the first time. Cutting to present day, the film introduces Josh (13 Reasons Why actor Brandon Flynn) and Rohan (a fantastic Nik Dodani), a young couple who plan a weekend getaway where they will meet each other’s parents for the first time. Tensions are high from the get-go, as Rohan’s upтιԍнт parents threaten the sancтιтy of his meticulously planned weekend, and things quickly take a turn for the supernatural.
The Parenting is written by Kent Sublette, who served as a writer on Saturday Night Live for 17 years. Watching even the first couple of scenes of the Max original, this SNL influence is no surprise, as the horror comedy is ripe with homage-filled parody and an out-there eccentric hippy (Parker Posey) who seems like she could be a classic Kristen Wiig character. Directed by Craig Johnson, the film lampoons both the Gen Z and baby boomer generations while creating well-realized character comedy.
The Ensemble Members All Shine In The Parenting
The Main Couple Is Instantly Likable
Even as the Oscars introduce a casting award next year, a comedy like The Parenting would be unlikely to get recognition, but it should. This movie is impeccably cast, as everyone is firing on all cylinders, transcending the movie from just a goofy comedy to one that is both hilarious and, at times, heartfelt. The crux of this comes from Dodani and Flynn, who are instantly likable when we first see them as a couple, before meeting their wacky parents.
The Parenting borrows a lot of previously done plot structures — with the parents meeting parents setup seeming particularly reminiscent of the 2004 Ben Stiller sequel Meet the Fockers — but it does a competent job in this domain. Edie Falco and Brian Cox play Rohan’s rich adoptive parents, while Lisa Kudrow and Dean Norris (of Friends and Breaking Bad fame, respectively) are Josh’s well-meaning but constantly miss-stepping middle-class parents. All four parents are stellar, with Cox showing a particular warmth that defies his character archetype, even as he faces an unfortunate surprise.
The Film Creatively Borrows From Classic Horror While Bringing In Gen-Z Inflections
It Is Refreshingly Modern
While the vast majority of the film is set in present day, the film starts as a visually campy homage to horror films of yesteryear. Neon glows are a harbinger of doom, and the aesthetic is generally nostalgic. Even transitioning to the future, the visuals remain similar, and eventually directly parody classic scenes from horror mainstays like The Exorcist. As the families become snowed in at their mansion rental, The Parenting тιтle itself even seems like a reference of The Shining.
The storyline itself also felt relevant and modernized to Gen Z in a way that was refreshing and not over-the-top.
At the same time, these throwback elements are nicely paired with modern elements. Weed gummies become a major sticking point in the young couple’s relationship, despite Falco’s out-of-touch middle-aged character seeing one and thinking it is a multivitamin. Even more comically, it is a dud Wi-Fi pᴀssword that is used to literally summon a demon in a clever twist that takes the modern frustration of non-working internet and gives it monumental consequences.
The storyline itself also felt relevant and modernized to Gen Z in a way that was refreshing and not over-the-top. Josh and Rohan are a young, gay couple, but The Parenting is in no way a coming-out story. Their queerness is mentioned and is relevant in some of the intentionally over-the-top demon dialogue later in the film, but their relationship and its ups and downs are treated in the way any young, heteroSєxual couple would. The true horror in The Parenting is the grand awkwardness that comes from a meet-the-parents gone wrong.
Despite Occasional Misses, The Writing Is Strong & Consistently Funny
The Parenting Is A Joy All Around
The Parenting is not a perfect film by any means. It takes a bit too long to get to its main twist, though its character establishment is solid. In a movie stocked with great scenes, a poorly rendered fart joke really took me out of the moment at one point, creating a jarring writing gaffe.
Overall, though, I found it easy to overlook these smaller flaws in the enjoyable ride that was The Parenting. The script nails its tonal contrasts, elegantly shifting from a family lamenting about their demonic possession to a cumbersome, laborious description of “crazy noodles.” It is better at comedy than it is at horror, but it makes even the mystical scenes laugh-out-loud funny in this thoroughly enjoyable ride.
