There are certain black comedies or horror comedies where one watches people do bad things and one is expected to laugh at it or remain on the side of the person doing the bad thing. Often, the bad thing is murder. Kathleen Turner was in some notable black comedies, such as Danny DeVito's The War of the Roses (1989) and John Waters' Serial Mom (1994). DeVito's film was about a married couple trying to kill one another but not succeeding. Waters' film was about a housewife who actually did murder people unapologetically and with zero regret. We got something similar with Mary Harron's American Psycho (2000). Harron's piece was more a satire, making a commentary on yuppie culture. Basically, it's a slasher flick where one follows the slasher, cheering him on, rather than cheering on the innocent victims.
Without needing to be a comedy, a lot of slasher films are mainly about cheering on the slasher. Horror franchises like Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980) or A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) have gotten to the point where audiences go to subsequent films, hoping to see characters like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger butcher people in incredible ways and celebrating it. Personally, I'm turned off by those films, which is why I resist seeing those kinds of slasher flicks. I enjoyed the slasher flick Heart Eyes (2025), but the protagonist was not the murderer and was more about being a romantic comedy within a slasher structure. Otherwise, it's difficult for me to be engaged with a film where the murderer is the main character, especially if we're meant to laugh or revel in vicious and bloody mania, resulting in the loss of innocent life. Man Bites Dog (1993) is the prime example. I'm fine with something like Michael Haneke's Funny Games (1998), which is a satire but despite the title it's not meant to be comedic as it's meant to be scary or terrifying. That's the point.
Nick Kroll (Big Mouth and The League) stars as Dom and Andrew Rannells (Big Mouth and Girls) stars as Cole. Dom and Cole are a gay couple living in Los Angeles. They are trying to adopt a baby and there is a pregnant woman who is deciding on whether to give her child to them. While they wait for her choice, they go on vacation for their 10th anniversary. They take a trip to Italy. Once they get there, a series of incidents occur that cause them to start killing people.
The killings are meant to be comical because they're meant to be the result of the language barrier between Dom and Cole who can't speak Italian. However, even when Italian characters are speaking English, Dom and Cole still misinterpret things. However, it's not just them. Other characters also don't receive properly what other people are saying, which is due to machismo or even homophobic reasons. Directors and writers David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano are essentially spoofing the idea that visiting a country as a foreigner and not learning the language, particularly if you venture into rural areas where people are less likely to be bilingual can be dangerous. Craig and Crano flip it to not being dangerous for the tourists but instead dangerous for the locals, which is a good spin. It underlines the foibles of international communication and communication about queer issues or topics.
Unfortunately, there is this aspect that's a little distasteful. The film wants to make this argument that Dom and Cole are going to be great parents because they prove they'll do anything for their child, including commit murder, or demonstrate behavior that is completely in disregard for human life, any life that isn't their child's. Yet, what Dom and Cole did had little to do with their potential baby and more to do with them not wanting to face prison time. Selling their murders, which could be argued as accidental, and the cover-up of those murders as noble are not humorous points to me. It's not humorous because I don't get what the punchline is, or if the punchline is these two gay men will kill for their child, particularly kill innocent people, I fail to see why that is funny. If one is being generous, one could argue that it's just a series of pratfalls with extreme consequences, but that's only if one is being generous.
Rated R for bloody violence and language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 37 mins.
In theaters.
