Re: What Did You Watch? 2025-04-28 (Monday)

On 4/29/2025 7:34 AM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
 

The Front Room (HBO) 2024 movie written and directed by the Eggers
Brothers and starring Brandy as a pregnant woman who along with her
husband (Andrew Burnap) agree to take care of her husband's recently
widowed stepmother (Kathryn Hunter from "Andor").  At first the husband
warns that his stepmother is evil, but Brandy ignores him until she
moves in and weird things start to happen.  I went into this expecting a
horror movie similar to "Rosemary's Baby" or "The Skeleton Key" but was
very disappointed that when it was all said and done, and as far as I
can tell, there was zero supernatural events in this movie.  I kept
waiting for something supernatural to happen, and it never did.  I guess
the movie is OK even without a supernatural twist.  Fans of "Andor" will
want to watch for Kathryn Hunter, pretty much playing the same role in
this movie that she plays in "Andor."

 It's just an elaborate mother-in-law gag?

I kind of got the feeling the original script/ movie did have a supernatural angle.  The movie really felt like a remake of Rosemary's Baby, where maybe the husband wasn't in on it.  I was positive the evil stepmother was trying to put her soul in the baby's body.  There are several scenes that imply that's what's going on.  Then for whatever reason they reshot the ending to remove the supernatural element.  But that's just a guess.
There was something that could be considered a twist.
Ng gur raq bs gur zbivr Oenaql naq ure uhfonaq svaq gur rivy fgrczbgure qrnq.  Vg'f yngre erirnyrq gung Oenaql fzbgurerq ure gb qrngu.  Ohg gurer ner mreb pbafrdhraprf.  Gur zbivr whfg raqf ba gung erirny.