- Director: Max Eggers, Sam Eggers
- Screenwriter: Max Eggers, Sam Eggers
- Cast: Brandy, Kathryn Hunter, Andrew Burnap, Neal Huff
- Cinematography: Ava Berkofsky
- Editing: Benjamin Rodriguez Jr., Eric Kissack
- Score: Marcelo Zarvos
- Genre: Psychological horror
- Runtime: 95 minutes
When his father dies, Norman (Andrew Burnap) and his expectant wife Belinda (Brandy, the singer) are requested to take in his stepmother Solange as per his father’s will, if they do so they’ll benefit from her large inheritance and given that they’re in dire straits financially, they really have no choice. Solange (Kathryn Hunter) is a religious zealot that would make Mother Teresa look like a heathen. She also openly shares her entrenched racist views at the dinner table, clashing with Belinda (or ‘Belinder’ as she calls her).
So: money troubles, a baby on the way and the mother-in-law from hell…not exactly a picture-perfect marital home. Solange is incontinent (if that didn’t worsen an already awful situation) – she’s soiling herself every 5 seconds, seemingly to spite Belinda. Norman refuses to get his hands dirty (literally), always running off to work when things are messy. And Solange’s fervent religiousness has a supernatural effect on the household. Holy moly.
Brandy gives an underpowered performance – conversely, Kathryn Hunter absolutely devours the scenery as the monster-in-law, embarrassingly so (this is an actress who’s done Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre). It’s more of an unintended comedy than the ‘psychological horror’ it set out to be. There’s a million Les Dawson jokes about his mother-in-law but this movie is funnier than all of them (not saying much though). In fact, it’s the cinematic equivalent of hot garbage. Praise the lord it’s only 95 minutes long.
Why didn’t Belinda just shove the old bat down the stairs as soon as she could? It wouldn’t have been the first time Brandy had killed someone…
My rating: 3 / 10
SilverScreen 