‘The Front Room’ Is A Comedy and You Need To Watch It [MOVIE RECOMMENDATION]

I went to the movies to see “The Front Room” back in September. Since it was such an obscure film I wasn’t sure the normal theater I frequent would show it, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it had screenings available, so I used some of my AMC Stubs member rewards and checked it out. Written and directed by Max and Sam Eggers, “The Front Room” follows married couple Belinda (Brandy Norwood) and Norman (Andrew Burnap) who are expecting a child when they must take in Norman’s estranged step mother Solange (Kathryn Hunter) following his father’s death. The story goes into unexpected twists when the devout Solange moves in.

When I saw “The Front Room” was coming to Max I was eager to watch it again because I do remember not hating it when I initially saw it. Upon a second, third, and fourth viewing (yeah I think I’m obsessed with this movie), I’ve come to conclusion that 1. “The Front Room” is a comedy and 2. This maybe my favorite A24 film. This film is labeled as a horror/thriller, but there aren’t any elements of that for me. Even though fear is subjective (I see a bug in a movie and I’m terrified), there really isn’t anything that would warrant you to be extremely fearful unless you have a fear of having a newborn and strangers around.

The reason why I find myself wanting to repeatedly watch “The Front Room” is large part to Kathryn Hunter’s hilarious and interesting portrayal as Solange. I did see “Poor Things” and attempted to watch Grotesquerie but I didn’t put it together that I’ve seen her work before until now. Hunter is the reason why “The Front Room” is so comical, in a dark comedy kind of way and her interactions with Brandy only heightens the laughs. There are themes of religious, motherhood, and worship in the film that I think were handled well. The film may seem slow because they aren’t many locations, much of the film takes place in a single location. There is one scene that slow zooms and transforms in such an intriguing way I’m still thinking about how it was accomplished. Overall, “The Front Room” will make for an intriguing watch if you’re in the mood for a film outside the box.

“The Front Room” is streaming now on Max.

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Photo: Jon Pack