Daddy

Endings are tough.  Just ask Stephen King; even after 65 novels he’s yet to come with one that works.  So pity the poor low-budget filmmaker who has to stick the landing on their very first try.  Daddy (2023) is a dark comedy from writing-directing duo Neal Kelley and Jono Sherman set in a near future in which parenthood must be licensed for both men and women. Steering away from sci-fi and towards more grounded satire, the film charts an amusingly grim course through male politics and paranoia. 

Arriving at their isolated retreat, the four prospective fathers are surprised to find their government appointed monitor is a no-show.  As the conspiracy theories start to fester, the arrival of Ally – an attractive woman stranded overnight – sends the gang headfirst down rabbit holes of delusional psychosis.  Is this all part of the test?  Who can be trusted?  And, most importantly, what would a real father do?

First and foremost, Daddy is a lot of fun.  The cast navigates the absurd scenario and endless dialogue with chemistry straight out of a 5th year sitcom.  The tone is sharp and playful with an undercurrent of dystopian dread.  Jacqueline Toboni’s brief appearance as Ally lifts things to another level, raising the dramatic stakes to the point where the audience begins to question if comedy was the film’s intention after all.

Using wide-angle lenses that create an almost Big Brother sense of manufactured reality, Kelley and Sherman never overpower their script.  Everything is just real enough to amplify the absurdity of the male psyche, the competitive drive not just to win but to make sure the other guys loses.  So it’s too bad that the ending simply throws up its hands for cliched indie ambiguity.  Daddy is a bold, witty debut that makes clever observations about authority, gender and barstool psychology.  It’s a film well worth watching – endings aside.

Anchor Bay’s Blu-ray comes with a filmmaker’s commentary, audition reel and several webisodes featuring the same cast members.  Look past the creepy cover art and check this one out.

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