Brandy Norwood Shines in Offbeat Horror Film

Max and Sam Eggers, siblings of Robert Eggers (The Witchthe next one Nosferatu), clearly appreciated the power of casting in choosing Brandy Norwood as the heroine of their first feature film. She takes on her first major horror role since 1998 I still know what you did last summerThe iconic actress virtually guarantees instant recognition for The front roomalthough the power of his performance alone would have been enough to ensure attention for this eccentric horror film.

Norwood plays Belinda, a mother-to-be who, along with her husband Norman (Andrew Burnap), is struggling to pay the mortgage on the somewhat decrepit old house they recently purchased. The couple seems to get a break, however, when Norman’s mother-in-law, Solange (Kathryn Hunter), offers them a substantial inheritance after Norman’s father dies. In exchange, she persuades them to commit to caring for her in their home, though Norman is exceedingly reluctant to reunite with Solange, a devout evangelical Christian who claims to communicate with the Holy Spirit and who deliberately terrorized his childhood.

Indeed, Solange is an imposing, if small, figure: appearing to be in her eighties, she is hunchbacked, deeply shrunken, and almost crippled, brandishing her two wooden canes with disturbing assurance. Taking pity on the old woman, Belinda attempts to accommodate her demands, agreeing to let Solange use the living room of their home, which she has redecorated for the baby, and even accepting her insistence on naming the child Laurie. It soon becomes clear, however, that Solange’s goals are focused on psychologically overwhelming her daughter-in-law and taking control of the family by replacing Belinda as the primary maternal figure in the household.

Belinda is already in a vulnerable state after being forced to leave her job as a university anthropology professor while struggling to cope with the untimely death of her first child. She is thus an easy target for Solange’s determined campaign of attrition. Among her tactics, she displays a startling racism, a glaring character flaw that she gleefully celebrates when Belinda finally rebukes her for displaying a certificate identifying her as a member of the “United Daughters of the Confederacy” and bragging about her cousin in the Klan. Norman, a public defender focused on advancing his career rather than caring for his pregnant wife, seems too traumatized by his past…