'The Parenting' review: Parker Posey, Brian Cox, Edie Falco, Lisa Kudrow star in uneven horror-comedy

Yahoo

12-03-2025

It's a crossover of our favourite stars from The White Lotus, Succession, The Sopranos, Friends, Breaking Bad, 13 Reasons Why and Atypical. If that has your head spinning, that's the correct response to the new movie The Parenting (releasing March 13 on Crave in Canada, Max in the U.S.), with the combined star power of Parker Posey, Brian Cox, Edie Falco, Lisa Kudrow, Dean Norris, Brandon Flynn and Nik Dodani.
A horror-comedy film, The Parenting , directed by Craig Johnson (The Skeleton Twins) and written by Kent Sublette (Saturday Night Live), rests of the wacky side of the genre. But it may leave you wanting more from this all-star cast.
The film starts in 1983, a mother is trying to get her kids to come downstairs for dinner, while she also cries over the final episode of M*A*S*H. Burning the frozen pizza in the process, she tries to air out the kitchen smoke and gets pulled down to the basement by a weird creature, quickly snatching up her son as well.
As her daughter comes out of her room, she sees the wallpaper on the walls mysteriously peeling off, the door to her bedroom is suddenly locked and a creature attacks her too.
Then we move on to the present day, where Josh (Flynn) and Rohan (Dodani) have rented a home in the country to meet each other's parents, and for their parents to meet as well. Rohan also plans to propose to Josh during the trip.
Josh and Rohan arrive first, with their dog Kate, and are greeted by Brenda (Posey), who doesn't own the home, but helps the owners manage the property, also revealing that they're the first renters. She's a bit of an odd ball, her hair styled in a giant braid down her back, with some odd questions and responses. For example, when Josh and Rohan confirm they're gay Brenda says, "That works." She also starts drawing a circle in the dirt around the property.
When Josh and Roan's parents arrive, they couldn't be more different. Rohan's adoptive parents Frank (Cox) and Susan (Falco) are more reserved, while Liddy (Kudrow) and Cliff (Norris) are the wackier pair. And the couples don't really get along. Susan, in particular, has a lot of questions for Liddy, who's not giving sufficient answers, like why her name is a short form for Elizabeth, but with two Ds.
As they all try to make themselves comfortable, odd things start happening in the home, like banging sounds in the night. And when they say the Wifi password provided by Brenda, the demon from the past surfaces, and claims Frank's body.
In order to have fun with The Parenting, you have to just lean into the ridiculousness of the story, like seeing Cox projectile vomiting "wacky noddles" and coming down to breakfast naked.
But while some things may give you a chuckle, other comedic elements completely bomb. Like when Frank, as the demon, start spewing homophobic slurs at Josh. It just felt unnecessary and a cheap attempt at comedy that this film didn't need.
Thanks for this impressive casts, there are moments that stand out as fun to watch. Scenes with Falco and Kudrow, in particular, are highlights, bouncing off of each other with some witty banter (these two need to star in a show together ASAP). And Posey is always a delight to watch on screen, giving us that perfect mysterious weirdo energy that we love.
From a haunted house standout, The Parenting doesn't really venture into scares territory.
This is a movie that feels like it doesn't give its impressive cast enough room to use their skills, though it would have totally tanked without their expert abilities.
If you're a fan of this crew of actors, it's likely something you'll be enticed to put on, and while the storytelling is quite disjointed, sometimes you just want carefree laughs. You can't take your eyes off the screen with all these TV legends involved.