Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageMum & Dad (2008)
Director: Steven Sheil
Movie review
From Time Out London
This grisly, cod-Freudian satire is the first film to be released under Film London’s Microwave scheme, which dished out £100,000 to a handful of burgeoning Brit filmmakers. Lena (Olga Fedori) is the young Polish immigrant working as a cleaner at Heathrow who is captured, imprisoned and tortured by a family of psychopaths.The small ensemble give game performances and, more importantly, are all in on the joke, as soap opera squabbles (which feel like they’ve been sapped straight from early Mike Leigh) segue merrily into scenes of mutilation and murder. Perry Benson – last seen in Shane Meadows’s ‘Somers Town’ – is given, ahem, a meaty lead role as the homicidal dad, but he’s too likable to convey any real menace. And while the mechanics of Lena’s ordeal have a revolting plausibility to them, you feel that director Steven Sheil has not yet mastered a way of developing tension through camerawork and editing, and as such, this commendable first effort works better as sick comedy than scary horror.
Author: David Jenkins
Time Out London Issue 2000/2001, Dec 18-31, 2008
Cast & crew
Director: Steven Sheil
Cast: Dido Miles, Perry Benson, Olga Fedon, Ainsley Howard, Toby Alexander full cast
Rated: 18
Duration: 84 mins
UK Release: Dec 19 2008
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now