In this film, you don't want to crack a mother-in-law joke within earshot of Claire, the mother-in-law from hell.
For the beleaguered daughter-in-law Allison, her marriage to mama's boy Jim has been a trial ever since the wedding, which was planned entirely by Claire and was not what Allison had in mind at all. For years, Allison has been reluctant to stand up for herself in the face of the super control freak mother-in-law.
At the start of the film, Allison informs Claire that she, Jim, and little Sydney will be moving to New York, due to her promotion at work. This does not sit well for Claire, who promptly returns home, murders her husband, places him in the freezer, then moves in with Jim, Allison and Sydney, floating the story that "Pop Pop" ran off with Missy. The nightmare is about to begin.
The film attempts to develop the theme of assertiveness and how Allison needs to become better at defining boundaries. But, in nearly all of the conversations, Allison is actually quite a good communicator. What else could one possibly say to a manipulative and diabolical con artist like Claire?
In the various strands of the film Claire is able to pull the wool over the eyes of a police detective, blackmail Allison's best friend, drive a wedge between husband and wife, dupe the granddaughter into believing that "Pop Pop" grampa is a very bad man, and co-opt an old girlfriend of Jim into coming to dinner and renewing their old flame.
Ol' Pop Pop never ran away with Missy in her Winnebago. On his last night on earth, Grampa took a little blue pill in expectation of pleasuring his demanding spouse. Instead, he was on the receiving end of a fatal push down the stairs. It is only due to the resolve of Allison that the cruel and calculating murder-in-law does not become Murder, Inc.
For the beleaguered daughter-in-law Allison, her marriage to mama's boy Jim has been a trial ever since the wedding, which was planned entirely by Claire and was not what Allison had in mind at all. For years, Allison has been reluctant to stand up for herself in the face of the super control freak mother-in-law.
At the start of the film, Allison informs Claire that she, Jim, and little Sydney will be moving to New York, due to her promotion at work. This does not sit well for Claire, who promptly returns home, murders her husband, places him in the freezer, then moves in with Jim, Allison and Sydney, floating the story that "Pop Pop" ran off with Missy. The nightmare is about to begin.
The film attempts to develop the theme of assertiveness and how Allison needs to become better at defining boundaries. But, in nearly all of the conversations, Allison is actually quite a good communicator. What else could one possibly say to a manipulative and diabolical con artist like Claire?
In the various strands of the film Claire is able to pull the wool over the eyes of a police detective, blackmail Allison's best friend, drive a wedge between husband and wife, dupe the granddaughter into believing that "Pop Pop" grampa is a very bad man, and co-opt an old girlfriend of Jim into coming to dinner and renewing their old flame.
Ol' Pop Pop never ran away with Missy in her Winnebago. On his last night on earth, Grampa took a little blue pill in expectation of pleasuring his demanding spouse. Instead, he was on the receiving end of a fatal push down the stairs. It is only due to the resolve of Allison that the cruel and calculating murder-in-law does not become Murder, Inc.