Parents

R

Released Jan 27, 1989

1 hr. 22 min.

Mystery & Thriller

Comedy

List

63%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

54%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Ten-year-old Michael Laemle (Bryan Madorsky) senses that something is not quite right with his family. Sure, his mother, Lily (Mary Beth Hurt), is the perfect 1950s housewife, and they have a comfortable life in the suburbs, where his dad, Nick (Randy Quaid), works at a mortuary. But what's with the enormous cuts of meat that his father brings home every night? What, or whom, do they come from? Michael takes his concerns to a school counselor (Sandy Dennis) who decides to come over for dinner.

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Kurtis E

Super middle of the road for me. The movie was ultra predictable and that took out any fun element. The big reveal was exactly what they were teasing the entire film. This horror comedy just doesn't go anywhere interesting despite a couple genuinely cool practical effects shots. I even called the final little twist just before the credits. Worth a watch if you like your horror comedies, but this film is forgettable.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/03/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Director Bob Balaban makes a dark horror comedy about the horrifying nature of our loved ones There's never a time where living with a child's parents could be scary but this is just that Young Michael during the 1950s lives with his mom and dad in their new suburban home Lily and Nick have good jobs as a housewife and mortuary But Michael notices something strange when they all eat nothing but meat as leftovers almost every night; he keeps asking where it comes from but his parents keep giving him vague answers He grows more suspicious every day worry about their true nature Are they dangerous and if so is Michael in danger too? Dennis Quaid and Mary Beth Hurt make for quite an interesting pair playing unsettling spouses I never would've figured Quaid to be terrifying but he comes across as very disturbing This whole thing plays like an acid fever trip The obvious twist is obvious it just takes a long time to get there The tone never goes for straight up satire and i didn't find too much comedy Think of this as a David Lynch film meets 1950s covering a period in time that's lost in paradise and hard to gain back

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/24

Full Review

David W

Staunchly weird and stylised. Evokes a feeling of 1950's Americana very well and has a nice building tension. The horror is more implied than actual until a brief period at the end. Played nicely by the lead actors who all 'get' the feel that the director was going for. It's not for everyone but my wife and I enjoyed this off kilter slice of late eighties strangeness. Not one for vegans/vegetarians.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/11/23

Full Review

connor s

This definitely had potential, but it was squandered. A shame.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Sameir A

A dark comedy which is amusing and interesting to watch, due to a different approach from Bob Balaban, this is his debut directorial feature. The story involves around a introvert boy, slowly revealing what's happening to him. Dark humor, and some interesting scenes makes it not a really boring movie. But, after watching, it's not really worth remembering for a long time. The three lead characters; Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt and Bryan Madorsky did a great job. Yet, this is the only film of Bryan I can find.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/07/21

Full Review

martin a

This is a great film, a black comedy about a family who has a son with major issues, who has bad dreams and imagines things that are not real. However he believes his parents are eating human meat, and he will not eat meat. He follows his father to work and catches him in the morgue, he then wakes in the middle of the night and goes down to the cellar and finds a severed leg hanging up. He tells his counselor who takes him back to the cellar to prove it was just a dream, but finds a human body! This is a great film, great cast and music

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Bob Balaban

Director

Randy Quaid

Nick Laemle

Mary Beth Hurt

Lily Laemle

Sandy Dennis

Millie Dew

Bryan Madorsky

Michael Laemle

London Juno

Sheila Zellner

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Because it speaks to a terror that lurks deep within our memories, Parents has the potential to be a great horror film. But it never knows quite what to do with its inspiration.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Rated: 3/4

Jan 27, 1989

Full Review

Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

rises to a few effective shock moments while offering up a blunt analysis of the American dream. Something original in the horror canon, it isn’t quite as literate as might be expected, but it’s ideal fare for horror fans who want to dine off-menu.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 28, 2024

Full Review

Terry Francis

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

Parents is rather over-spangled in film technique, and it finally degenerates into a slasher movie. But, again, roughly the first two-thirds are sharply drawn, and Balaban appears to be a true eccentric researching his way to his own personal style.

May 9, 2023

Full Review

Brian D. Johnson

Maclean's Magazine

Parents is not for the squeamish. Its sound track jostles with novelty tunes of the 1950s-from Chantilly Lace to Purple People Eater-but the humor only enhances the horror.

Oct 11, 2019

Full Review

Adam Patterson

Film Pulse

Parents offers a unique horror-comedy experience that, while disliked by critics after its release in 1989, can now certainly be deemed a cult classic.

Rated: 8/10

Apr 10, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Ten-year-old Michael Laemle (Bryan Madorsky) senses that something is not quite right with his family. Sure, his mother, Lily (Mary Beth Hurt), is the perfect 1950s housewife, and they have a comfortable life in the suburbs, where his dad, Nick (Randy Quaid), works at a mortuary. But what's with the enormous cuts of meat that his father brings home every night? What, or whom, do they come from? Michael takes his concerns to a school counselor (Sandy Dennis) who decides to come over for dinner.

Director: Bob Balaban
Distributor: Vestron Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 1989, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $464.2K
Sound Mix: Surround

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