There has to be a better way to introduce a campy thriller without pretending to be serious. I think from the beginning if I knew it was slapstick horror, I may have been able to digest it as it was. After too many scenes featuring feces, urine, and farting one has to wonder why a treasure such a Brandy thought this is the role to sink her teeth into. If it were a serious horror, I would understand. But for what this is, it's for some one of a C-Level of celebrity. The actress that played the stepmother was very entertaining considering the brand of story telling. The premise of the old trope of the evil stepmother seemed very promising and relatable and unfortunately a ball was dropped.

LIKES:

Atmosphere Cinematography

Handles Reality Harshly

A Decent Character Profiling For Two Characters

Acting

Some Dark Comedy Theatrics

Summary: I give it to A24 that they know how to make a movie look good with the camera work and editing. The Front Room is not shy of making a horrifying movie by emphasizing the right shots to illustrate the horrors of such a situation. Fantastic filters alongside the use of shadows and close-ups stir the emotions and with it craft the emotional medley that might come with taking care of such a taxing family member. Even during the more...symbolic moments, the Eggers' direction manages to make the most of a simple shot with just the right ominous tones. Alongside those darker moments comes a portrayal of a harsh reality, one part due to fantastic acting, and another part due to the direction of the story and vision. I felt a lot for Brandy's character, watching her go through this hell to handle the pressures faced on her, and getting a lot of glimpses of what someone of Solange's character can be like when given an opportunity. That harsh reality is the true horror of this movie, and I felt every ounce of struggle in their presentation and the perseverance it takes to get through it. In classic A24 fashion, there are moments of darker humor to help alleviate the tension, and though much of it got underwhelming and quite annoying, fans of such comedic presentation should be thrilled with the theatrics at hand. From the occasional jab in dinner time banter, the vengeful acts that humans do, to the more aggressive jokes all await the audience who dare check this film out.

Yet for me, the strongest notion is the acting that carries this film. Will start with Burnap, a character stuck in the middle requiring a lot of flexibility in how his character was directed. He's got great tension delivery, helps add this traumatic effect into the film as it proceeds, and primarily in the first act holds the potential to show just how deep he can go in the well of a complex character. I felt he did well with the material in the latter half, but his stronger performance was near the start (more on that in a minute). Hunter is the next one I enjoyed. Though not her character, she manages to take the "classic charm" of Solange and unleash it in full force as she unleashes the full-on traditions into her new home. Her coughing fits alone are believable, but the way she adapts the accent, puts such ferocity in her tongue as she enacts her antics, and even the physical acting all hold such power as the movie progresses. As for Brandy's return, the actress brings back her chops to marinate in a darker role that shows the fire is still stoked in this actress. Between strong delivery of lines, a fantastic portrayal of mannerisms in an ever-changing body of life, and an incredible inner thought portrayals. Her chemistry with everyone makes the movie's focus on the characters stronger and I felt that she accomplished much to bring the most out of the ordeal. Thus, the character profiling for Solange and Belinda (Hunter and Norwood respectively), is quite endearing and by far the pillar holding much of the movie up.

DISLIKES:

Practically Goes Nowhere

Not Scary/Thrilling

Repetitive Shots

Disgusting Imagery That Is Center Focus

Sometimes Gets Too Political

Warning: Hyper zealous religion May Offend

Pace Felt Slow

One Character Is Confusing

SUMMARY Though there is such strong theatrics and acting, this particular A24 film had other elements that did not resonate with me. My list of dislikes I'll start with is an inconsistent character, Norman (Burnap) who at first seems like is going to be an engaging character, but then falls backward into an element that becomes more a symbolic tool than anything else for me. He was inconsistent and sort of forgettable compared to the other two and that was a shame given how well his first act was. I guess this matches the point of symbolism as the movie becomes swallowed up by the power of Solange to represent the allegory of choice, but I didn't like him getting the shaft.

Once past this though, the movie's other limitations for me start with the focused presentation style of the content. For one thing, the movie isn't scary nor holds the same level of shock value that the more supernatural films like Hereditary and Midsomer (to a degree) hold. It lacks that engaging bite I like in a Thriller, sticking to the realistic approach and dulling the promise the trailers made from their editing. Instead, the movie chose to use more disgusting imagery for their focus, giving us plenty of shots of bodily excretions that are very sad and very inappropriate for the amount of time they spent on it. Though I can handle the horror of it when utilized well, the movie becomes fixated on these tactics and feels like Groundhog Day without the story and fun. I get bored with such repetitive motions, especially when the plot is not progressing to any meaningful degree in the time, especially when it becomes a montage of repetitive shots that are again painting how time crawls in these circumstances. Such limited progress dragged the pace out, and I sometimes struggled to care about the movie. In addition, despite some classy handling of the political topics in this movie, there are moments where it seems some personal angst leaks out into the dialogue. These moments get a tad too in your face, or in some cases are going to get very upset with the way the doctrines are shared with us. Some moments are utilized well and important to the character development and sometimes fall into unnecessary tangents that again do little to promote the story. As such, the movie took a major hit for lacking a moving direction, nor engaging enough content to utilize such repetition to the full extent.

The VERDICT Stylish, seductive, and realistic (to an extent), The Front Room is a prime example of A24's powers to make odd tales others don't quite dare to tell. A wonderful artistic eye and strong performances are by far the strongest elements to paint this picture of such a strange set of circumstances. It's raw, accurate, and captures the trials and tribulations of taking care of an elderly family member. Outside of that, the movie is going to be geared toward those who want to embrace that mental challenge and symbolic adventure of spirit, sanity, and interfamilial drama. With less scare factor and more "shock" factor that gets caught up in the artistic presentation, The Front Room feels rather mundane, repetitive, and bloated with only a finite niche to really thrive on the things presented. It didn't move for me and the focus of watching excrement continue to emit out did little to entertain me, and the other scenes don't do much to move or make me happy. The verdict is... this is not one of the stronger movies and I recommend watching this one at home if you dare face the challenge of sitting through this drawn-out film. My scores are:

Horror/Thriller: 6.0 (better psychological thriller) Movie Overall: 4.0-5.0.