The Playroom

Released Feb 8, 2013

1h 23m

Drama

List

52%

23 Reviews

Tomatometer

55%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Four children in an attic make up a fantastic story while their parents make a drunken story of their own.

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Audience Member

Hard to watch because of it's honest portrayal

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

walter m

Some teenagers imagine losing their virginity as a romantic rite of passage. And then there is Maggie(Olivia Harris) who just wants to get it over with her boyfriend Ryan(Cody Linley) in the family garage. Even that does not go as planned, as her mother(Molly Parker) soon arrives home, followed by her father(John Hawkes), a lawyer. And eventually the neighbors(Lydia Mackay & Jonathan Brooks). For the record, we have been here before plenty of times. Specifically, 1975 when parents were behaving badly and children were left to pick up the pieces.(Actually, Molly Parker was also already, in the late lamented television series "Swingtown" which covered a lot of the same ground.) And then there is the fact that the filmmakers seem to be using the film solely to work out some long festering parental issues here.(To be honest, if I had four kids, I would drink heavily, snort cocaine, inject heroin...oh you get the drill. Just be thankful I'm never having kids.) But beneath all of those tired cliches, "The Playroom" gets right how in larger families older kids take care of the younger ones. Plus, the movie is artfully constructed with a neat use of camera and voiceovers to give a dreamy effect to the proceedings. And each in their own way Molly Parker and John Hawkes are both excellent but you knew that already.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One line summary: Teen daughter takes care of three younger siblings while alcoholic parents ignore them. ----------------------------------- Martin and Molly Cantwell have four children, Maggie, Ryan, Sam, and Janie. The parents are alcoholic, and mostly absentee. Maggie serves as surrogate mother. She and the younger children often cleanup after the mess that the parents leave behind (cigarette butts, drinks glasses, random clothing, and so on). It's the era of the Patty Hearst kidnapping, when cigarettes were still popular and considered socially acceptable. Partner swapping seemed to be OK as well. After stealing yet another of her mother's birth control pills, Maggie observes he mother being kissed and fondled by the man of a couple visiting to play bridge. Several drinks later, the parents do not notice that the older boy has fallen off the roof. Maggie does the required first aid. More drinks later, the parents and the guests openly discuss Donna's infidelity with Clark. Nadia and Martin are taken aback and depressed, respectively, and the friendship of the couples takes a hit. Throughout the film, the four children weave stories in the attic as a defense against the ugly realities. They are constructing a rather nice one when Martin asks Maggie to come downstairs. Maggie reveals that Molly is pregnant by Clark, and the adults erupt. Maggie screams to get the to avoid bloodshed. Will anyone find a path out of this real and deep mess? -----Scores------- Cinematography: 10/10 Professionally done. Sound: 10/10 No problems. Acting: 8/10 Olivia Harris was excellent as Maggie. The child actors were fairly good, and I liked John Hawkes' performance. Screenplay: 7/10 There were so many cuts that the film seemed awfully choppy.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Weird. Very weird. Also, I think that was the mom from the TV show where the men were pilots and everyone was swingers. Can the woman only play one role?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

troy k

1/5 There was some good acting, but good acting of pointless crap is a crime.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Reminiscent of the Ice Storm. A disturbing tale of parental selfishness and the unintended neglect of the children that results.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

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Julia Dyer

Director

John Hawkes

Martin Cantwell

Molly Parker

Donna Cantwell

Olivia Harris

Maggie Cantwell

Jonathon McClendon

Christian Cantwell

Alexandra Doke

Janie Cantwell

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Tom Long

Detroit News

You have your basic family psychodrama, except there's no real heat either downstairs or up.

Rated: C-

Apr 5, 2013

Full Review

Chris Vognar

Dallas Morning News

Modest in scale, it's the kind of American independent film that brings some honor to that shopworn descriptor.

Rated: B+

Feb 14, 2013

Full Review

Sheri Linden

Los Angeles Times

The film uses the upper-middle-class setting effectively, even as it resorts to heavy-handed symbolism and melodrama in its dour, mostly unforgiving portrait of parental dysfunction.

Rated: 2.5/5

Feb 8, 2013

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

While the adults in the Dyer sisters' latest feature suffer the children, so do they suffer the patience of an audience desperately searching for a point of interest in the troupe presented to us here.

Aug 7, 2019

Full Review

Clayton Davis

AwardsCircuit.com

Leaving too many questions unanswered, and an ending that's less than satisfying, The Playroom intrigues and latches on to the viewer's conscience enough to stick through the tale.

Rated: 2.5/4

Dec 26, 2014

Full Review

John Beifuss

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Molly Parker is Oscar-worthy in the juicy role of John Hawkes' alcoholic, stylish, sexy/pathetic wife.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 19, 2013

Full Review

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Synopsis

Four children in an attic make up a fantastic story while their parents make a drunken story of their own.

Director: Julia Dyer
Producer: Lawrence Mattis, Don Stokes
Screenwriter: Gretchen Dyer
Distributor: Freestyle Releasing
Production Co: Circle of Confusion
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 8, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 2, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.9K
Runtime: 1h 23m

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