Film / The Parenting

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The Parenting is a Comedy Horror HBO Max movie which premiered on 13th March 2025. It's directed by Craig Johnson, written by Kent Sublette and features an all-star cast of Nik Dodani, Brandon Flynn, Parker Posey, Vivian Bang, Lisa Kudrow, Dean Norris, Brian Cox, and Edie Falco.

Rohan (Dodani) is planning on proposing to his boyfriend Josh (Flynn) but both want to meet their respective parents first. As such, they organized a weekend getaway to the countryside for the three couples (Plus their pet dogs and best friend Sara) to socialize with mixed results.

The only thing probably worse than an awkward meet-up with obnoxious in-laws is that the B&B house they rented is haunted by a 400-year-old demonic entity out to possess them.

Not to be confused with the subtitle of web-animated cartoon Hunter: The Parenting.

Contains the following tropes:

• Affectionate Nickname: Josh calls Rohan as "Ro" which showcases the love he has for his boyfriend.
• All for Nothing: Brenda awaited over forty years for Andras to have a suitable body to leave the house and properly do her bidding, only for the family she planned on sacrificing defeating the demon for good. While there's no legal action taken against her, she basically wasted her entire life and condemned her soul to hell with nothing to show for it other than the now-freed Allie flipping her off and living all alone in the middle of nowhere thanks to the family's scathing review not letting her have any new rentals anymore.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Sharon seems incredibly cold towards Frank in contrast to the more affectionate Liddy and Cliff but immediately shows concern when he starts acting up. Upon finding out a demonic entity has possessed Frank, Sharon is in deep distress over the possibility that she'll lose her husband forever and is relieved when Andras is expelled from his body. The same goes for her son Rohan whom she may have been strict towards but it was out of Tough Love so he can overcome hardships for his differences and ultimately wants the best for him.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Brenda portrays herself as a kind, if nosy and eccentric, house owner. In actuality, she's planning on sacrificing her new rentals to the great marquis of hell Andras and already had him murdered her best friend's family for her own selfish purposes. Needless to say everyone hates her guts after revealing her true colours but still acts cheery as ever.
• Big "SHUT UP!": To quiet down his panicked family, a possessed Frank bellows one so loud that it violently reverberates throughout the house and tips over a giant wood cabinet, crushing one of Liddy's dogs to death.
• Bookends: Apart from the Cold Opening, the film starts with Rohan and Josh listening to "You Keep me Hangin' On" while driving to the B&B mansion excited for their weekend getaway and ends with them driving back home discussing about the traumatic experience conspired there as the song plays over the credits.
• Bury Your Gays: This almost happened during the climax when Rohan attempts to perform a Heroic Sacrifice by letting Andras possess him instead of Frank but Josh tries taking his place. However, they realise an alternate method of killing the demon without killing either of them or their family and both live another day with Josh proposing to Rohan.
• Brick Joke: Sharon mentions she used to do a malfunctioning robot impression called "Robot Lady" during Rohan's childhood when he was afraid of the dark so he'll be more worried about her. When the family is keeping Andras at bay in the climax, Sharon defaults to "Robot Lady" since she has no idea what's going on (And neither is the family).
• Closed Circle: The movie entirely takes place in the haunted countryside house that Josh and Rohan rented for the weekend, including the Cold Opening in 1983 where the previous residents lived in it. The only exception is when the couple briefly ran over to Brenda's house next door for help.
• Confusion Fu: During the climax, the incantation for Andras to possess someone is used against the demon when the family all recite the chant simultaneously. This leads to Andras rapidly possessing and being expelled between hosts until its indecisiveness leads it to manifest without a body and therefore be vulnerable to the family's mercy.
• Curse Cut Short: In The Stinger, Rohan tells Josh "I can't believe I saw my dad's hard co-" before then movie ends.
• Discriminate and Switch:
  • Sharon seems to hate Josh given how Rohan said this is the first time he ever brought a boyfriend and her cold, dismissive attitude, not helped by their awkward first impressions. In actuality, it turns out Sharon is a lot more open-minded and already knew Rohan's sexuality, she was more concerned about Josh's character being a bad fit for him which was quelled after he saved her from a possessed Frank.
  • As Brenda eyes her first rentals, she insensitively ask if Josh and Rohan are a gay couple and comments "It'll work" after confirming they are. When the two confront her later on, Brenda clarifies she's not homophobic but worries the demon Andras is and would not possess them given his summoning in the early eighties which is not reassuring in the slightest.
• Disappeared Dad: Allie and Jamie's father is absent and not mentioned once during the 1983 flashbacks, making it very likely Donna is a single mother given Brenda mentioned the demon killed all the McKinlys.
• Dual-Meaning Chorus: The song that prominently plays during the opening and credits is Kim Wilde's rendition👁 Image
  of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in which the lyrics boasts "Set my free, why don't you babe? Get out my life, why don't you babe?". While this easily ties in with Andras' motivation of possessing a living host to leave the house and continue his onslaught as well as the family doing everything in their power to exorcise him, it perfectly describes the feelings of the post-mortem Mckinly family towards Brenda, especially Allie. As more lyrics detailed, Allie is extremely pissed by how Brenda still thinks they're friends like the latter didn't trick the former into summoning a demon that killed her entire family including herself^note "You say although we broke up, you still just wanna be friends. But how can we still be friends, when seeing you only breaks my heart again?" and barred them from resting peacefully in the afterlife for over forty years^note "Why do you keep a-comin' around playin' with my heart? Why don't you get out of my life and let me make a brand-new start?" and "Get out, get out of my life, and let me sleep at night."
• Everybody Lives: In spite of Andras taunting Frank about eating his entire family alive after it fully takes over, the only casualties in the movie are one of Liddy's dogs and the demon himself once the family expels him out of Frank's body. While it's subverted with the McKinely family who died in the Cold Opening, this was all way back in 1983 when Andras was first summoned which shows how rusty he has gotten over time.
• Extremely Short Timespan: The entire movie takes place over the course of the weekend to coincide with the duration of Rohan and Josh's family retreat.
• Flip the Bird: After everything Brenda put her through, Allie's freed spirit rightfully flips her off and promptly leaves without a single word to enjoy the afterlife she was denied for so long with her family.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In 1983, Donna excitedly tells her son Jamie about the finale of their favourite TV show before changing her tune yelling how much she hates him and Allie. This may seem like dysfunctional family is at play but it's actually Andras' Hate Plague taking effect which also starts affecting Rohan, Josh and their families in present day.
  • There's plenty of hints about Brenda's allegiance with the demon:
    • Allie bangs on her now-locked door begging her unseen friend to be let back in before Andras attacks. That friend turned out to be Brenda who summoned the demon in the first place.
    • Brenda strangely emphasises a B&B house wouldn't be completed without wifi and gives Rohan and Josh the password. It's revealed the password also doubles as the incantation to trick them into saying it so Andras can possess its host.
  • When Josh is trying to recall the wifi password, there are creaky noises upstairs then a hand suddenly grabs him under the dining table before he could fully read it out. This turns out to be the efforts of the zombified McKinly family protecting him from unwittingly reciting the incantation despite the family mistaking them to be malevolent.
• Genre Mashup: The movie's plot is equal parts of Meet the In-Laws Cringe Comedy, with a queer element in the main gay couple, and Demonic Possession horror flick.
• Good All Along: Allie, Donna and Jamie can't speak in their zombified forms which cause their attempts to save the family to come off as malicious such as their rough manhandling, walking menacingly, banging their head on the banister and the likes.
  Rohan: So you were helping us this whole time?
  [Donna silently nods]
  Rohan: Yeah, that did not come off as that at all.
• Karma Houdini: Brenda is the instigator to the entire demonic possession fiasco whose summoning of Andras murdered the McKinelys in 1983 and almost sacrificed Rohan and Josh's families in present day. And yet, she pretty much gets off scot-free after Andras' death given (a) there's no recorded evidence that freakish weekend ever happened and (b) nobody would take them seriously if they call the cops on Brenda so the family can do nothing but write a scathing review before the credits roll. However, Brenda did suffer in retrospect as her life-long servitude towards the demon and damning her soul to hell was all for naught in the end.
• Karmic Death: After possessing Frank, Andras gloats over taking his sweet time toying then murdering his entire family in his body while he could do nothing but watch. Said family manages to exorcise and weakened the demon from his host in which Frank delivers the finishing blow to Andras who is pathetically begging for mercy.
• Hate Plague: One of Andras' powers is to spread discourse amongst loved ones, explaining the incredibly awkward and tense family meetup and dysfunction junction between the McKinlys. It dissipates once the family realises the danger and reaffirm their love for one another to defeat the demon once and for all.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Rohan and Josh adore their pet dog Daisy while Sharon brought her trio of Pomeranians to the B&B house.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Thinking the only way to prevent the demon from crossing the house boundary is killing the host it occupies but not wanting to take his father's life, Rohan willingly says the chant to let Andras possessed him and ask Josh to finish him off. However, Josh refuses to shoot his boyfriend and recites the chant to take his place. The rest of the family members soon follows, which make them realise an alternative solution where nobody has to die, ultimately subverting the trope in the end.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The incantation which allows Andras to possess and torture people ultimately becomes his undoing when all the family members chant it at once, confusing him enough to release his true form without a vessel which is fatal to him.
• I'm Melting!: Without a host to possess, Andras materializes as its true form but doesn't keep it up for much long before he agonizingly melts into a puddle of black sludge.
• Internal Reveal: Rohan was secretly planning to propose to Josh on the weekend to which Sara tries talking him out of it. However, she accidentally texted Josh by mistake and he decides not to tell Rohan until he let it slipped he's his fiancé during an argument later on. This made Rohan even more tense at the already disastrous family meet-up.
• LGBT Representation in Media: The protagonists, Rohan and Josh, are a gay couple with the former planning on proposing to the latter and are meeting their parents-in-law for the first time. In the end, Josh surprises Rohan by proposing to him instead with both their parents' support.
• Logical Weakness: For an ancient demon, Andras follows two rules that are crucial to his downfall:
  • Upon saying a certain incantation ("Ego Sum Tibi Andras"), Andras can possess and fully take control of the host as the demon requires a living vessel to survive. However, said demon is but a singular entity so it could only possess one human at a time which the family uses to their advantage by simultaneously repeating the chant all at once to forcibly expel Andras without a body in its confusion.
  • Secondly, its domain is within any circle formed, killing anyone inside, and can't escape unless it's possessing a host. Continuing from above, the family surrounds the demon in a circular formation and leaves it entirely at their mercy, unable to touch them because they are the circle. Thus, Andras slowly and agonizingly dies as a result.
• Malicious Misnaming: Sharon keeps calling Liddy as "Libby" on the insistence that her name is short for Elizabeth and not Lydia despite her discomfort. Towards the climax, Sharon finally calls Liddy by her preferred name after opening up her feelings to her with a little white wine.
• Meet the In-Laws: The crux for the plot as both leads are meeting each other's respective parents for the first time where awkward first impressions and clashing personalities make the atmosphere uncomfortable. Especially with Andras' Hate Plague and its possession of Frank playing a significant part in the tension.
• Non-Indicative Name: Lampshaded by Sharon in her first meeting with Liddy as to why she doesn't go by "Libby" since her full name is Elizabeth and not Lydia.
• Not Quite Dead: Sharon's dog, who got possessed, beaten to a bloody pulp via wooden mallet and put through the dishwater at full cycle, is completely fine and well after Andras was sent back to hell.
• Only Known By Her Nickname: Josh's mother prefers to be called "Liddy" instead of "Elisabeth" and is addressed as such (With the exception of Sharon who insisted on "Libby").
• Open-Minded Parent: Rohan and Josh's parents are not opposed or uncomfortable with their respective sons dating each other at all and incredibly pleased when Rohan accepts Josh's proposal. Although it seemed like Sharon has a problem, she was actually more concerned if Josh is a bad influence since she wants the best for Rohan but ultimately likes him despite bad first impressions.
• Portmanteau Title: The Parenting combines "Parent/Parenting" (Given the Meet the In-Laws plotline) and the many horror movies that have "The Haunting" in their title (Since it's also a demonic possession flick).
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: After Sharon struggles to break free from her possessed dog's bite, Cliff furiously grabs the dog and begins pounding it to pulp with a wooden mallet:
  Cliff: [With each swing] Do! Not! Fuck! With! My! Wife!
  [The possessed dog still growls at him]
  Cliff: [Feverishly whacks harder] DoNotFuckWithMyWife!
  [The possessed dog goes limp]
  Cliff: [Double Tap] DO. NOT.
• The Quiet One: Frank is a man of few words and lets Sharon walk over him and do the talking. This does not bode well when he struggles having a heart-to-heart with Rohan and after his possession that almost killed him, regrets not telling his son how much he loves him and promises to make the effort from now on.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The main couple has Rohan as the neurotic, perfectionist Red Oni and Josh as the laid-back, fun-loving Blue Oni. This is evident by how they take after their parents with Rohan's parents (Cold Sharon and quiet Frank) being the Red Oni and Josh's parents (Easy-going Liddy and Big Fun Cliff) being the Blue Oni.
• Refuge in Audacity: Not knowing what's going on in the climax and being drunk from earlier, Sharon does her robot lady impression which momentarily halts everyone to do a Double Take, including even the demon which distract it long enough to stop possessing anyone and be weaken further.
• The Speechless: Allie, Jamie and Donna don't say anything after being killed and resurrected as decaying zombies which made it harder to communicate their attempts to protect the family. Even when their spirits are freed, they only silently acknowledge the family while Allie flips off Brenda without a word before leaving for the afterlife.
• Straight Gay: Rohan and Josh don't show off any stereotypes other than the former's neuroticism but that's due to his mother issues. As such, the couple are portrayed no different from the usual Meet the In-Laws plot.
• Theme Naming: Liddy introduces her three Pomeranians as "Frick, Frack and Fuck [Who Knows]" though it's subverted in that she never actually named them and are refer to as "Liddy's dogs" throughout the movie.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Allie's mother, Donna, forbade her from being friends with next-door neighbour Brenda given she was into Satanism and way older than her. Allie did not listen and heavily paid the price when Brenda summoned Andras and happily sacrificed Allie and her family for a demonic "boyfriend" who obeyed her every command.
• We Used to Be Friends: Allie was best friends with Brenda in their teenage years against her mother's wishes up until the latter's summoning of Andras murdered the former's family. The forty plus years Allie's spirit was trapped in her rotting zombified corpse unable to move past the house boundaries or to the afterlife left a bitter hatred towards Brenda who still treats her like nothing happened.
  Brenda: Allie, isn't it great we're finally free of Andras?
  [Allie flips her off, refusing to say anything]
  Brenda: [To the family] It's a friend thing we do.
• You're Insane!: Rohan calls Brenda insane after she reveals her evil plan.
  Brenda: Maybe because I watched three people being killed by a demon who let me escape, only to put voices in my head every moment of my life so that I would bring him a suitable human vessel! Maybe that's why I seem a little off.