This is a horror comedy and when it comes to horror comedies, the gold standard is Ghostbusters (1984) with its nearly perfect balance of humor and high anxiety, silliness and scariness. Yes, that film classic made you laugh, but, by the end, it legitimately frightened audiences with legit creepy stuff. I'm not quite sure this feature strikes that same balance. Most horror films have some comedy, even to a small degree. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) had dark humor. A lot of comedies have some horror, even to some small degree. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) begins with a really horrific murder, but that murder has a serious tone and has pathos to it.
Some films have murder and mayhem with no pathos, no weight or sympathy. Some films are basically like a cartoon. This feature is very much like that. This feature has more in common with The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2025), a recent ridiculous adventure with horror elements. In fact, the story here is not that far flung from that Looney Tunes movie. If one accepts that this feature is a cartoon, one might find it more acceptable. What isn't acceptable is that even cartoons like that Looney Tunes movie has some emotional aspect. The Day the Earth Blew Up is not like Toy Story 3 (2010), but it had a beating heart to it that The Parenting tries to have but doesn't quite sell.
Nik Dodani (Twisters and Escape Room) plays Rohan, a man who is planning to propose to his boyfriend. He rents a large house in the country and is going with him for the weekend. What's revealed is that Rohan has invited his parents who have never met his boyfriend. He's also invited his boyfriend's mother and father who have never met Rohan. If one has seen Meet the Parents (2000), then this set-up is basically that film, times two, and between a gay couple.
Brandon Flynn (13 Reasons Why and True Detective) plays Josh, the aforementioned boyfriend. He was recently fired from his job. He's mainly a struggling musician. This isn't a problem for his parents who are more liberal and laid-back. However, Rohan's mother and father seem more conservative and judgmental, at least Rohan's mom comes across that way. Josh wants to impress Rohan's parents, particularly Rohan's mom, but everything he does has no effect on her.
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie and The Sopranos) stars as Sharon, the mother to Rohan. She used to do modeling when she was younger. Now, she works as a psychologist. Rohan isn't her biological son. Rohan is adopted, but it makes her a bit more protective of him, and protective in a way that is more judgmental of anyone that might not be up to her standards.
Brian Cox (Succession and Frasier) co-stars as Frank, the adopted father to Rohan. He works as an architect. He's not as judgmental as his wife, Sharon, or if he is, he's not as vocal. He's likely to go along. It might be that he has some deep down homophobic feelings, but that might not be the case. At one point, Frank says some very homophobic and gross things, but we're later led to believe that those aren't his true feelings. If you're seen Ghostbusters or even The Day the Earth Blew Up, then you can guess that he says those things due to him being possessed by some supernatural or alien entity. The film could've used this to explore deeper feelings or a generational divide in regards to homosexuality or same-sex marriage, but that isn't the case here.
Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback and Friends) also co-stars as Liddy, the mom to Josh. She works as a school receptionist. She seems totally distant from being anywhere similar to Sharon and Frank. Despite working at a school, she doesn't seem too bright. She might be a bit air-headed. She's certainly more oblivious and happy-go-lucky.
Dean Norris (Claws and Breaking Bad) plays Cliff, the dad to Josh. He also works at a school, the same school as Liddy, which is where they met. He's not necessarily a happy-go-lucky guy. He seems more like a live-and-let-live kind of guy. He also seems like a water-off-a-duck's-back kind of guy too where crazy things happen and it doesn't phase him too much. He doesn't get as freaked out as the others, especially when the supernatural stuff starts going down.
Yet, in a strange way, that's kind of the tone that director Craig Johnson (Alex Strangelove and The Skeleton Twins) crafts here. Crazy things happen and it doesn't phase any of the characters too much. It feels as though there are no stakes here. I never felt the danger. Some might argue the same about Ghostbusters, but there were moments in that film that felt dangerous and that people could die. Technically, people die in this film but it gets to a point where that threat ceases to exist. Again, it begins to feel like a Looney Tunes cartoon. It also begins to feel like a sketch on Saturday Night Live (1975), which is not surprising because the writer of this feature is Kent Sublette, an Emmy-nominated writer for Saturday Night Live who has been there since 2007. In fact, this film feels like Sublette doing a riff on Meet the Parents and The Exorcist (1973) as if it were a sketch on SNL.
Parker Posey (The White Lotus and Scream 3) rounds out the cast as Brenda. She's not in the film to a large degree, but she has a significant role as the creepy real estate agent and neighbor who prepares the house for Rohan and James along with their families. Clearly, she's up to something. She gets to ham it up and be extra quirky. She's probably the funniest thing in this feature, next to Edie Falco who gets a couple of funny moments that stand out.
Rated R for language, sexual references and some drug use.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 34 mins.
Available on Max.