Mother Father Sister Brother Frank

Mother Father Sister Brother Frank is a Canadian thriller comedy film, directed by Caden Douglas and released in 2024.^[1] The film centres on the dysfunctional suburban Jennings family, who have to come together to save themselves after a family dinner goes awry with Uncle Frank lying dead on the floor.

Mother Father Sister Brother Frank
Film poster
Directed by	Caden Douglas
Written by	Caden Douglas
Produced by	Michael Lomenda Matt Schichter
Starring	Enrico Colantoni Mindy Cohn Melanie Leishman Iain Stewart Juan Chioran
Cinematography	Matthew Campagna Gaelen Cook
Edited by	Maria Todorov-Topouzov
Music by	Adrian Ellis Walker Grimshaw
Production company	LittleBull Productions
Distributed by	Highball TV
Release date	April 6, 2024 (2024-04-06) (Panic Fest)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

The film stars Enrico Colantoni as father Jerry, Mindy Cohn as mother Joy, Melanie Leishman as sister Jolene, Iain Stewart as brother Jim and Juan Chioran as Frank.^[2] Sharron Matthews also appears in the film as nosy neighbour Ronda, with Izad Etemadi, Chad Connell and Matthew G. Brown in supporting roles.

The film's production was announced in March 2023 by streaming service Highball TV.^[2] It was shot in Hamilton, Ontario.^[3]

The film premiered on April 6, 2024, at Panic Fest in the United States,^[1] and had its Canadian premiere on April 26 at the Calgary Underground Film Festival.^[4] It was also screened at the 2024 Inside Out Film and Video Festival.^[5] Its European Premiere was at the It's Alive! Horror Film Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria. ^[6]

Critical Reception

Reviews were generally positive.

Cath Clarke wrote in The Guardian: "You could describe Mother Father Sister Brother Frank as Fargo-esque, in the sense that it’s a tale of nice ordinary folks doing bad stuff while snow falls serenely around them – though in truth it is less flavoursome and the humour is more obvious, not so deliciously off-kilter."^[7]

Writing in The Stranger, Chase Hutchinson said: "It’s a film that, much like the disruptive character at its center, is always in danger of overstaying its welcome but is still just clever enough to get away with it. With each escalation and swerve it serves up, the commitment of the cast, as well as a clever script, ensures it remains light on its feet, even as its characters constantly stumble over what to do."^[8]