Mum & Dad. It’s hard to tell what this film is going to be simply from the title. I mean, it has no allusions to any genre whatsoever. Maybe a romantic comedy or something, talking about the love between mother and father. Something along those lines.
Of course, what you wouldn’t expect from that title is a disgusting British thriller that seems to do everything right!
We start the first 10 minutes of the film with Birdie and Lena, a Polish immigrant, who both work at an Airport. Through this time we get to know the two, Birdie being a chatterbox and Lena being somewhat shunned by her family, left on her own. It’s interesting to see the interactions between these two, who seem like they are going to be good friends as the film goes on. When Lena misses her bus because of Birdie you think nothing of it when Birdie offers to help her get home.
Then Lena gets to Birdie’s house and things get very, very different. She’s knocked out then, when she wakes up, is told that she is the new “daughter” in this family, made up of Birdie, Mum, Dad and the quiet Elbie. What follows is a film filled with claustrophobia, suspense and disgust.
The film’s creepiness doesn’t revolve around gore and guts, though there is enough of that in the film. No, unlike a lot of horror and thriller films in recent years this film is all about atmosphere. The entire film has a constant feeling of dread. The family are such oddballs and played so well that their actions are difficult to gauge, going from extremely kind one second then snapping to murderous the next.
The characters of Mum and Dad are played extremely well and make the film an absolute pleasure to watch. For some it might seem weird seeing Meggy from This Is England perform such disgusting acts, implying paedophilia and incest, but he nonetheless carries it off extremely well. He is honestly fearful and Mum is the same. She never shows as much anger as Dad, but because of this she is even creepier, torturing Lena as if it is the most natural thing in the world.
But this film isn’t just about the creepiness. There’s also a lot of dark humour in there. Stuff you know you shouldn’t be laughing at, but you laugh nonetheless. Out of the entire film it is most probably the Christmas scene that is the funniest. Just because they have a prisoner, ahem, I mean, new daughter, doesn’t mean they can’t celebrate Christmas with her. It’s a family occasion!
That scene is just so funny and so creepy at the same time, bringing together everything that is disgusting so far in the film and upping the stakes to bring it towards a climax which is both fitting and satisfying. Disgusting, creepy, violent and disturbing. Everything that we experienced in the film and more!
This film is not exactly light-hearted and nor is it for those who can’t watch films where things are so messed up, no, actually 'fucked up' is more accurate. Mum & Dad is a great piece of cinema that not many will be aware of, but because of that only the people who are interested in this type of film will watch Mum & Dad and they will be the ones to enjoy it the most!
Final Verdict: 8/10
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