Cage delivers his maniacal best in “Mom and Dad” — a satirical explosion of repressed suburban angst that’s as funny as it is twisted.
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This week’s Cage Match (as chosen by the random number generator from Cage’s entire filmography) was the incomparable Adaptation, arguably one of Cage’s finest performances in a cinematic essential.
For the People’s Pick, we embraced the spooky season and put two of his more recent horror flicks up for a vote: Willy’s Wonderland (2021) and Mom and Dad (2017). The vote was split on these two wickedly fun fright flicks. So, we decided to cover Willy’s Wonderland last week and Mom and Dad this week. It is Halloween, after all!
IN THIS CORNER: KELLY MINTZER
The Lowdown
The first time I watched Mom and Dad, I was sitting on a floor in a Philadelphia apartment. There was a Redbox at the CVS down the block from me, and I systematically worked my way through every horror offering it ever got; Mom and Dad was not first on my list, but sometimes a girl’s gotta kill an evening.
What a pleasant surprise, then, that the film was a weird, violent, acerbic bit of nasty fun. And did it hold up the second time around? It did, indeed.
The setup is simple enough; an unhappy family is made even unhappier by a sudden and widespread epidemic of parents violently turning on their children. Honestly, you don’t need to know much more. Selma Blair and Nic Cage play the parents we are most interested in, and to my delight, the movie didn’t pull its punches—they’re just as affected by the outbreak as everyone else.
The movie’s DNA is full of zombies, viruses, paranoia, and satire. It’s a heavy thing to consider: parents murdering their children. Perhaps one of the worst things to consider is being attacked by those who are supposed to protect you. While the film certainly considers that, it smartly doesn’t linger with too heavy of a hand; there’s a strong vein of dark humor throughout.
The Cage Factor:
Are you kidding? This is the kind of movie Nic Cage was made for! Let’s call this a Cage Fighter all the way. It really allows him to get as balls-to-the-wall bonkers as he possibly can, and it’s super fun to see him unleash the nonsense.
AND IN THIS CORNER: STEPHANIE MALONE
The Lowdown
Director Brian Taylor takes a deliciously dark concept and runs with it full bore, creating a horror-comedy that’s both disturbing and gleefully entertaining.
The genius of Mom and Dad lies in how it transforms universal parental frustrations into a rollercoaster ride of domestic destruction. It cleverly plays with the natural tensions that exist between parents and children, amplifying them to absurd extremes while offering a satirical look at modern parenthood and the loss of identity that can come with it.
The film’s pacing is relentless, starting with isolated incidents that quickly spiral into full-scale suburban warfare. Taylor, known for writing and directing the outrageous adrenaline-fueled Crank series with Mark Neveldine, brings that same kinetic energy here but with a darker edge.
Nicolas Cage, as Brent Ryan, is a dad pushed to his breaking point. Cage’s performance here is nothing short of iconic. Known for his unfiltered approach to intense roles, he chews scenery like it’s his last meal. The magnetic Selma Blair matches Cage’s energy as the mother, creating a terrifying tag team of parental fury. Meanwhile, the movie around the matches their energy beat for beat, creating an experience that’s as exhausting as it is exhilarating.
It’s chaotic, clever, and unapologetically absurd, making it an unforgettable addition to the horror-comedy genre.
The Cage Factor:
If ever there was a role perfectly suited for Nicolas Cage’s particular brand of controlled chaos, it’s this one. Cage approaches the character like a pressure cooker of middle-aged disappointment ready to explode, and when he does, it’s spectacular – a symphony of rage conducted with a Sawzall and punctuated with maniacal grins.
What makes Cage’s performance especially effective is how he builds up to the madness. Whether he’s reminiscing about the sex-filled muscle car days of his youth or rampaging through his house with murderous intent, Cage commits fully to every moment.
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