Belinda and Norman are about to welcome their first child. They have just moved into a new house, they are preparing the baby’s room. Everything is beautiful. Until nothing is. A few weeks before giving birth, she loses her job. Then she is forced to accept the presence of Solange, her mother-in-law, under their roof. A woman from the southern United States, aging, very religious, frail in appearance, who moves with difficulty. But who is also hypocritical, manipulative. And, as a proud member of the United Daughters of Confederacy, racist to the last degree. Now, as has been specified, Belinda is black.
Loosely based on the eponymous short story by Susan Hill, The Front Room is written and directed by Max and Sam Eggers, who are making their feature film debut. They are twins. They are also the half-brothers of Roger Eggers (The Witch, The Northman), with whom the former co-signed the screenplay of The Lighthouse. And they are distributed by the A24 box, to whom we owe the diffusion of titles like Midsommar (Midsommar. Summer Solstice) by Ari Aster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Killing of the sacred deer) by Yorgos Lanthimos, The Green Knight (The Green Knight) by David Lowery or even Everything Everywhere All at Once (Everything everywhere all at once) by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. That is to say, works that are difficult to fit into a single box. The work of the Eggers is of this type.
Generational conflict
So, The Front Room can be seen as a psychological drama with gothic overtones flirting (perhaps) with the supernatural. Or as a very black comedy with gory and horror overtones about a family and generational conflict (kind of Auntie Danielle by Étienne Chatilliez, but cubed). Or even like the confrontation between two women – since Norman, played by Andrew Burnap, is rather incidental.
One of them, possibly struggling with severe postpartum depression, is played by singer and actress Brandy Norwood, convincing in a spiral leading to the deepest darkness. The other, perhaps mired in wickedness and in the midst of religious delirium, is played by a simply spectacular Kathryn Hunter. Who would have thought that a British Shakespearean actress could find, in her, a hyperconservative Christian from the American South! In short, The Front Roomit’s her.
In search of discomfort
Placed face to face, the two characters put themselves at the service of a disturbing game of mirrors. Literally, certain shots and scenes are remarkable in all that they reflect and reveal beyond words. Figuratively, we witness a scathing inventory contrasting very early childhood with old age. Think attitude to meals. Think mobility. Think toilet. Think… diapers. Think acceptability and rejection. It’s all there. Well laid out.
The Front Room is a feature film that aims for unease, and achieves it. The Eggers had a blast writing, they are vicious in directing. They test the limits of the spectators in everything by offering a proposition that will probably not be unanimous. And, whether we liked it or not, it is difficult to detach from our memory.