A24's horror-tinged dark comedy The Front Room begins rather unconventionally, with its star Brandy delivering a message to the audience, asking them to ignore typical theater etiquette and "get loud". It's an interesting move — not only because it will disappoint A24's core audience of cinephiles, but also because it tries to force a level of B-movie camp. While it has its moments, The Front Room is ultimately a silly exercise in genre filmmaking.

The film follows a young interracial couple whose idyllic relationship is thrown awry when one of their racist stepmothers moves in and tries to take over their lives, creating an uncomfortably twisted power dynamic. From the moment the film begins, it is clear where the story is going. However, a predictable ending can be forgiven if the journey is worth the ride. Unfortunately, The Front Room does not deliver in that regard.

There are certainly some wickedly funny moments in The Front Room, but its scatological humor becomes extremely repetitive and monotonous after a while. Frankly, there's only so many times you can watch an old lady be incontinent and laugh at it before it starts to feel mean. While the character is certainly not likable, it still feels like the lowest common denominator of black comedy.

There's also the fact that the rest of the characters in the film, beyond the two leads, feel incredibly underdeveloped. All the effort in the character arcs was put into the relationship between the protagonist and her mother-in-law. The main character's husband, for example, barely feels like a presence in the story, even though he should be a central aspect of the conflict.