Jasneet Singh is a writer at Collider who loves horror, book-to-film adaptations and TV shows.
The Big Picture A child's worst nightmare is often deemed to be the monster under their bed, or a mysterious stranger who offers them candy from the back of a white van. But none of these boogeymen can compare to the idea of a child's parents, their ultimate protectors, turning on them. This inconceivable notion is explored in 1989's Parents, where Micheal's nightmares are wrought with images of his parents, draped in sundresses and stiff collars with a loaded dash of blood.
The film is framed from Michael's point of view as we see him tip-toeing around his parents, then acting out at school. Settling into a new neighborhood and new school, Michael introduces himself to his class in a very familiar scene from our childhood, alongside another newbie, Sheila . Both parroting a strange statement they had clearly heard at home, a friendship is formed and Michael's imminent spiral is hinted at.
'Parents' Doesn't Have a Plot Twist Close Foregoing mystery and a grand finale plot twist, Parents doesn’t try to hide a lick of its cannibalism, offering us a ghastly and mechanical rendering of 1950s parents who keep trying to push meat on their vegetarian son. Warm, vibrant lighting doesn't allow for Quaid or Hurt to showcase a nuanced or gradual spiral into insanity, and instead highlights the "something off" about them from the get-go.
Michael Becomes an Unreliable Narrator in 'Parents' While the implications of cannibalism are pretty clear throughout the story, the film still manages to make us doubt ourselves by framing the events through a child. Michael's overactive imagination, bizarre fever dreams, and unexplained hostility towards his parents render him an unreliable narrator.
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