Family matters. That’s no reference to the hit ‘90s sitcom of the same name, or even Kendrick Lamar’s diss track against Drake from their most recent rap feud. Without realizing it, those two simple words also double as one of our earliest values: the idea that nothing in life is more important than the ones who bring us into this world and take care of us while we’re here. But what happens when family becomes a threat to your life? Does it still matter? And how far would you go to protect some of the other things in your life that matter more? These are just some of the questions explored in A24’s latest film, The Front Room.

 

Based on the short story of the same name by Susan Hill, the film follows a young, pregnant couple whose life is turned upside down when they are forced to take responsibility for an estranged relative. For a film about family, it’s almost too perfect that two brothers directed it. Max and Sam Eggers. If their names sound familiar, it’s because they also happen to be related to budding horror icon Robert Eggers (The VVitch, the upcoming Nosferatu remake). But that’s just about where both the perfection and the horror ends. 

 

Though the film is technically billed as a psychological horror film, it’s not really all that scary. In fact, it’s quite campy - more on that a little later. The only true horror in the film is the plight of our main character, Belinda (Brandy Norwood). When we first meet her, she’s a professor at a local university. Despite her full-time status, she’s still treated like a novice. In an early exchange with her husband, Norman (Andrew Burnap), we discover that her classes for the upcoming semester have been cut. Despite several attempts to try and sort out her schedule and to be taken seriously, she’s ignored. Although she is several weeks pregnant, she makes the executive decision to quit her job. 

 

As a pro-bono lawyer, Norman is hardly making any money either. As months pass, the couple struggles. That is, until Norman gets word that his father has died. Initially, he’s reluctant to attend the funeral because of his strained relationship with his stepmother, Solange (Kathryn Hunter). But Belinda strongly encourages them to pay their respects. Even after she meets the eccentric Solange for herself, Belinda still struggles to understand why Norman resents her so much. So when Solange reveals that she is willing to fork over every cent she has to the couple if they take her in, Belinda doesn’t hesitate to say yes or to force Norman to do the same. When Belinda begins to see Solange’s strange behavior for herself, she begins to realize that no amount of money is worth the price of her peace or sanity.

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Now, despite a break from the big screen Brandy returns in full force here, delivering not only her most mature role to date but her most complex. From the very beginning we see just how exhausted Belinda is by her job. It’s the added physical and emotional (and often gross) challenges from Solange, however, that really put into perspective how resilient she is. 

 

As admirable as Brandy’s work is here, it’s hard not to admire Kathryn Hunter’s even more. If Brandy is giving 110% here, Hunter is giving 220%. Just as she wins over Belinda at the start of the film, she wins over the audience too. But what she really deserves to win is an Academy Award. For her voice and her physicality alone she deserves to at least be nominated. It’s really her equally outrageous pious and bias that flesh her out. While it’s doubtful this will become a franchise, Solange deserves to be decorated as one of the most memorable villains in cinematic history. Not just for her malleability or manipulation, but for the way she does it while leaving a “M-E-S-S.”

 

That last line is a nod to the film’s aforementioned camp. Despite some serious themes, the film is littered with wacky moments. Many involve Solange making a “M-E-S-S” in her bed, or on the walls. There’s a moment where she becomes so outraged with Belinda that she bends over and farts right in front of her. While those moments could easily be dismissed as over-the-top, they actually work because not only is Solange figuratively taking a dump on Belinda’s life, she’s literally doing it too.

 

While the amount of feces in this film isn’t a problem, the amount of ambiguity is. Throughout the film, Solange’s devotion to Christianity is heavily discussed. Belinda even begins to have these weird religious visions in the house after her baby is born. Those visions are paired with bizarre paranormal experiences that seem to also be tied to Solange. Neither Solange’s religion or Belinda’s visions are ever fully explored though. By the end, the audience is left wondering what the point of those implications were instead of fully enjoying the duo’s feud. In other words, the tension alone between Belinda and Solange carries the film. The rest just feels like a bland attempt by the Eggers brothers to amplify the film’s surface-level spookiness. 

 

Andrew Burnap’s Norman also feels a bit underdeveloped. Having warned Belinda about Solange, it’s only right that he gets his own confrontation with her. Instead, he continues to cower to her, eventually feeding into her lies and even turning on Belinda at times. Of all the characters, he needs salvation the most but never gets it.

 

There are a lot of interesting ideas in The Front Room. But none of them, not even the titular location, are explored fully. Sure, family matters. And by the end of the film, we understand just the sacrifices that must be made to keep your bloodline intact. As entertaining as the film is, substance matters too. With the exception of the lead two performances, this home is mostly empty.