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If you grew up with Brandy’s Cinderella, A24’s The Front Room is even more twisted. Here’s what she told us about The Parallels

VaselineSeptember 4, 2024

0 3 minutes read

If you grew up with Brandy’s Cinderella, A24’s The Front Room is even more twisted. Here’s what she told us about The Parallels

Under the upcoming horror movies This weekend’s spooky season is kicked off by A24’s The Front Room. The film marks Brandy Norwood’s return to horror for the first time in a while, and wow, does she outdo herself with a fantastic performance. But I have to speak directly to the kids who loved the actress in Cinderellabecause if you notice the similarities, you’ll see this project on the 2024 film calendar in a new and twisted light.

How A24’s The Front Room Made Me Even More Scared as a Fan of Brandy’s Cinderella

When leaving The Front RoomI felt something that I, as a huge horror fan, hadn’t felt in a while: actual fear and stress in my body from the experience of watching the film. The film follows a pregnant couple who take in the husband’s stepmother, Solange (played by Kathryn Hunter), after she’s widowed and promises to support the couple financially if they let her stay.

Even though the concept is quite simple (I won’t give away any spoilers here), Hunter’s performance and the way she tortures Brandy’s Belinda and her husband Norman affects me so deeply that I find myself feeling just as stressed as the characters.

On the way back I gasped as I realized that, oddly enough, The Front Room is oddly enough a Cinderella story in a way that only an A24 film could be, because it harks back to my favorite role as Brandy growing up, which still holds up better than other Disney remakes I’ve seen.

It made the whole messed up experience of the film even sharper, because I realized that had to be purposeful. I grew up seeing Brandy in an absolute fairy tale scenario, and then it was turned into a real nightmare. It’s incredibly clever of the filmmakers, but I’m still shocked by it.

What Brandy Told Us About the Parallels

Max and Sam Eggers confirmed my suspicions when I read in the film’s press releases that they were looking for “our Cinderella” when they were casting for the horror film. And when Brandy’s name came up, they were able to cast her in The Front Room because it felt like a “genius move.” When I brought up the parallels I saw with Brandy Norwood during our conversation for CinemaBlend, here’s what she had to say:

It was a challenge. You know, Belinda was not an easy role for me. I really had to study and be on point and, you know, working with someone like Kathryn Hunter, you have to be on your toes because you never know what she’s going to do, so I, I really worked hard on this role and I really wanted to see if I could pull it off. And it’s very similar to Cinderella in terms of the fact that she doesn’t have the best life to begin with. So that’s kind of the similarity.

So Brandy doesn’t see it the same way I do, but she did talk about how difficult it was for her to play the role after not having done a film in the genre since the ’90s. Then Brandy hoping she gets a call to participate in another horror filmso that they can join the I know what you did last summer cast of the sequelI really hope she continues to work in this genre as well, because she was so excellent in The Front Room.

I warn you though, I am also very traumatized by this film and the strange parallels with the twenty-year-old Cinderella film that was the reverse of what dreams are made of. Now I have to do the musical that was made for television with a Disney+ subscription to make me happy again.

The Front Room will be in theaters from Friday, September 6. See what other upcoming A24 movies are on their way to CinemaBlend.

VaselineSeptember 4, 2024

0 3 minutes read

How A24’s The Front Room Made Me Even More Scared as a Fan of Brandy’s Cinderella

Vaseline

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