The Front Room (15)

Norman receives a telephone call confirming the death of his estranged father and he reluctantly attends the funeral with heavily pregnant wife Belinda. At the service, Norman's fervently religious stepmother Solange offers the couple a deal: a sizeable inheritance in exchange for allowing her to move into their home and caring for her until she dies. Norman accepts and Solange takes over the front room, which was supposed to be a nursery for the baby.

LondonNet Film Review

The Front Room (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Caring for the elderly by younger members of a family unit is considered as an honour, not just a moral responsibility, in some cultures, notably those which adhere to the teachings of Chinese philosopher Confucius, who promoted empathy and compassion on a journey through life where old age should be revered as a glorious culmination. Even the most devoted daughter and son would struggle to bear the weight of the horrors that writer-director brothers Max and Sam Eggers pile upon their beleaguered characters in this nightmarish home invasion thriller…

Based on a short story penned by North Yorkshire-born author Susan Hill, best known for The Woman In Black, The Front Room pits a heavily pregnant wife and emotionally scarred husband against the stepmother from hell, portrayed with lip-smacking gusto by Kathryn Hunter. Her performance as a manipulative harpy with two walking sticks, who self-mutilates then blames her injuries on her carers, teeters on the edge of camp grotesquerie from the moment Hunter’s wide-eyed stare emerges from behind a funereal veil. The theatrical villainy enlivens an otherwise dull and pedestrian battle of wills between conflicted generations.

If you’ve ever contemplated how much waste a human body can produce in 24 hours, the Eggers provide graphic answers throughout The Front Room. They smear the screen and an increasingly claustrophobic central location with bodily fluids ad nauseum. Familial carers cover their noses, gag, retch and wince in pain. The greatest waste, however, turns out to be a solid ensemble cast trapped in a humdrum, Rosemary’s Baby-lite story of twisted religious fervour with one inevitable conclusion.

Government-appointed lawyer Norman (Andrew Burnap) attends the funeral of his estranged father with heavily pregnant wife Belinda (Brandy Norwood). The couple are still grieving a stillborn son and are anxiously preparing to welcome a daughter into the world. After the funeral service, Norman’s Bible-spouting stepmother Solange (Hunter) offers to sign over her sizable estate to the cash-strapped couple if they allow her to move into their home and care for her.

At Belinda’s insistence, Norman accepts and Solange installs herself in the freshly decorated front room, which was supposed to be a nursery. Using the inheritance as a bargaining chip, Solange wields an insidious influence over the dangerously divided household and Belinda is propelled to the verge of a nervous breakdown tending to everyone but herself.

The Front Room plays out its psychological battle of wills without a sense of urgency, heaping misery on Belinda and Norman until their marriage buckles. Norwood’s new mother retains our sympathy, especially when Burnap’s weak-willed spouse abandons her for extended periods in service of the flimsy plot. She is no match for Hunter’s attention-grabbing harridan, who heralds each demonstration of incontinence by loudly screaming “M, E, S, Sssssss.” She’s a shrewd and fair critic of the Eggers’ picture.

– Kim Hu