Directors: Max Eggers, Sam Eggers
Writers: Susan Hill, Max Eggers, Sam Eggers
Stars: Brandy Norwood, Andrew Burnap, Kathryn Hunter
Synopsis: It tells the story of a newly pregnant couple who are forced to take in an ailing, estranged stepmother.
Religious horror continues to take the reins throughout 2024, with Immaculate and The First Omen kicking off the year in the spring and Russell Crowe’s The Exorcism (remarkably unrelated to his 2023 film The Pope’s Exorcist) getting us through the summer. Max and Sam Eggers, brothers and collaborators with Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse, The Northman), bring us their debut feature, The Front Room, that carries the banner of religious horror right into the fall. The film follows Belinda (Brandy Norwood) and Norman (Andrew Burnap) as a young married couple expecting their second child after their first didn’t make it through the delivery. Weeks before their daughter is to be born, Norman’s estranged father passes away leading to his very devout stepmother, Solange (Kathryn Hunter), offering them her entire fortune for the opportunity to move in with them and become more involved in their lives.
A different branch of the Christian faith takes focus in this film, moving away from the quiet, pious nature of Catholicism and more traditional denominations. Solange comes from a Pentecostal background, a grouping of Christianity that emphasizes the movement of the Spirit and prayer leading to miracles. She speaks in tongues and somehow knows things about Belinda and Norman that she should have no way of finding out. Her intuition and assuredness are typical of charismatic Christians and it’s interesting to get this religious angle instead of the buttoned-up, reserved faith we often see in horror. This alone sets the film apart from other similar premises that have come out in recent years.
The film’s tension and action are all facilitated by Kathryn Hunter as Solange and her faith. It’s difficult to overstate just how peculiar and singular Solange is throughout the movie, and she is by far the highlight you’ll be thinking about afterward. Hunter brings incredible energy to the character that is totally unexpected even if you’ve seen the trailer. Her facial tics and nonstop chatter blow the rest of the cast off the screen. Her performance is truly special, but each of the three actors seems to be in wildly different films. Norwood and Burnap are definitely in a different register from Hunter, yet still aren’t in sync themselves. The stark contrast in performances is extremely distracting and indicative of the entire film’s tonal inconsistency.
It’s clear what the Eggers duo were trying to achieve on the page, with a few scenes successfully nailing the horror vibe and bringing legitimate scares. Some images are even so disgusting that they are unsettling despite the context around them. For the most part, however, each scene shifts drastically in tone leaving you wondering how you got there. It’s hard to know whether to laugh or be disturbed by some of the things that happen. Maybe that’s the point in some stretches of the film, but the translation from page to screen leaves a lot to be desired and squanders the solid premise due to these inconsistencies.
The most impressive piece of The Front Room is the cinematography from Ava Berkofsky. There are so many overt religious references through the dialogue itself, but more subtle allusions to Christianity come through the imagery captured by the camera. Beautiful shots of shadows forming ominous crosses combine with slow-moving cameras tracking characters throughout the house. Berkofsky’s use of mirrors is wonderful as well, with a specific slow zoom-in during a conversation between two characters making you wonder how they pulled that shot off. The lighting team also gets time to shine, creating a few terrifying moments during the dark evenings within the house.
There’s a promising artistic vision on display that leaves me hopeful for the future of these filmmakers despite the downfalls in the execution. The Front Room offers a unique bent on the religious horror front and a legitimately amazing performance from Kathryn Hunter. Things might have become more cohesive if the rest of the film could live up to her antics and commit to even more craziness.
