This interview was originally published on ComicBookMovie.com.
A hilariously terrifying comedy, The Parenting follows young couple Rohan and Josh as they plan a perfect weekend getaway in the country to introduce their parents. As tensions begin to flare between the more traditional Sharon and Frank and the laid-back Liddy and Cliff, the families soon realize that their rental – managed by eccentric local Brenda – is haunted by the presence of a 400-year-old poltergeist.
When one parent becomes thoroughly possessed (Brian Cox in one of his most unhinged and hilarious roles to date), it’s up to the young couple and their meddlesome BFF Sara to unite the families and stop the evil entity once and for all.
The movie is directed by Craig Johnson (The Skeleton Twins, Special) from a script by Kent Sublette (Saturday Night Live) and we recently got to sit down with the filmmakers to discuss their collaboration on the side-splittingly funny new horror comedy.
During our conversation, Kent tells us how working on SNL prepared him for this project, while Craig opens up on the importance of utilising practical special effects. They then both discuss Brian Cox's insane role in this movie as a demon-possessed dad and how they managed to talk him into reeling off some wild lines.
You can watch the full interview with Craig and Kent in the player below.
I had so much fun watching this movie. Kent, you’ve got this amazing history with Saturday Night Live, so how did that experience prepare you for writing this feature?
Kent: SNL prepares you for a lot of things. There’s no better training ground for comedy. I’ve been there for a while. I came from the Groundlings which was an improv theatre in LA where Will Ferrell and Lisa Kudrow came from. At SNL, I think the biggest benefit for this movie, was that you learn how to do stuff fast. You don’t have much time to be precious or be like, ‘That joke doesn’t work! Give me two minutes - here’s one.’ That’s a training you get there which I think came in useful writing this script and working on the film.
Craig, there are some great practical effects in this film. Whether it’s the wallpaper coming off the walls which was simple yet effective or those creature effects. Why was it important for you to make sure those were in here?
Craig: I’m a child of the 80s, so the first movies that I loved were these practical effect ones. The Thing and Poltergeist and Gremlins. That was a huge one for me as a kid. I feel very lucky actually to have been a child in the 80s because of those kinds of movies. That was what you’d go and see every summer, these original, weird, kind of genre mashups. They were often spooky and funny at the same time. When I read Kent’s script, I was like, ‘This reminds me of the movies I loved in the ‘80s.’ Part of that, in terms of visual effects, practical puppets and actual goofy, rubbery stuff that you can feel and is tangible. There’s certainly CGI in the movie as well but I’m glad you brought up the practical effects because those were important to me.
You’ve got a phenomenal cast here, but were you shocked by the kind of things you were able to get Brian Cox to do and say in this movie?
Kent: [Laughs] You’ve never seen Brian Cox quite like this, I don’t think.
Craig: You haven’t! I don’t think Brian knew what he was signing up for either. I think he read the movie and said, ‘It’ll be fun to be in a funny demon movie.’ I think he forgot that we were going to be hanging him from wires and he’s gonna spend two hours in makeup. In his wonderfully grumpy Brian Cox way was sort of like, ‘What the hell is all of this?’ I’m not sure he…I think he’s seen the movie and gets it now, but at the time was wondering what the hell [we] were doing. He does things here that he has not done in movies before. You’ll have to watch it to find out.
Kent: I mean, he says some crazy things in this movie and he would always ask for more. I would be off in the corner, like ‘Okay, here’s 10 more!’ He would just rattle them off. He really loved doing stuff like that.
Craig: He was such a game player, I would say. He was the first actor to sign on and we couldn’t believe it. The studio wanted him and I was like, ‘Good luck, he’s never gonna do it.’ And he did, and it’s a testament to how great Kent’s script was. I think because Brian was in it, we got so many of these other incredible top-shelf actors to join him.
The crazy noodles scene. How much fun was that day on set?
Kent: That was pretty incredible. I was lucky to be there for that. Brandon’s parents were actually there watching - I won’t give it away - but it just went on forever and got funnier and funnier. It was really terrific.
Craig: Yeah, I have to give a shout out to Brandon. He was a trooper in that scene and, when you watch the movie everyone, you’ll know what scene I’m talking about!
The Parenting will premiere on MAX on Thursday, March 13, 2025.