This Underrated Shocker from A24 Races Up HBO’s Max Streaming Charts
A24 has made quite a name for itself in the genre space. Every winter, they’re hoovering up awards for their big, marquee titles like Queer, The Brutalist, and Sing, Sing this current season. Their bread and butter, however—accounting for five of their ten highest-grossing releases ever—is horror. A24 distributed 2024’s best horror movie, I Saw the TV Glow, and also released the Hugh Grant shocker Heretic, a personal favorite among many here at Dread Central. Last year also saw them release Alex Garland’s Civil War, and in the summer, the finale of Ti West’s X trilogy, MaXXXine, hit theaters.
When you think A24, then, you naturally think of horror. There are the biggies like Talk to Me and Hereditary, but within their history, they’ve also either produced or distributed worthwhile horror movies you haven’t heard of. Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin is a masterpiece, full stop, and Bryan Bertino of The Strangers fame conjured up monstrous tension in 2016’s The Monster. Oh, and Lee Cronin of Evil Dead Rise also helmed A24’s The Hole in the Ground, a sufficiently spooky Irish shocker about a changeling. Even last year, A24 released a horror movie you probably missed. Recently landing on Max, that film has now topped the charts as the most-streamed horror movie on the platform.
Per Max: Everything goes to hell for newly pregnant Belinda after her mother-in-law moves in.
The Eggers Brothers’ The Front Room was released in theaters by A24 last September. Grossing just $3.2 million worldwide, the high-concept horror movie had an unusually short run for an A24 genre title. Before release, the film was pitched as star Brandy’s (I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and Moesha if you’re cool) return to horror, and anticipation was hot. I’m not quite sure what happened, though late summer releases rarely perform super well. Resultantly, The Front Room, despite being pretty fun, was forgotten just as swiftly as it was announced.
It’s a shame since The Front Room is actually pretty fun. Brandy is excellent, and it’s a lot funnier (and grosser) than you might think. Is it among A24’s best? No, probably not, but it’s unconventional enough to stand out among their crowded lineup, and it’s a shame more fans didn’t check it out when they had the chance. With its arrival on Max, now is as good a time as any. Check out some choice reactions from fans online below:
too much poop in The Front Room (2024) pic.twitter.com/dLHHO5hmro
— Keith Goulette (@keithgdesigns) September 7, 2024
My friend and I had a blast with THE FRONT ROOM, a Rosemary’s Baby-esque flick from Max Eggers and Sam Eggers (yep, Robert’s younger half-brothers). Kathryn Hunter and Brandy both appear to be having a grand ol’ time and we are richer for it. #movies #moviereview pic.twitter.com/zqmjViiXG3
— Joanne Thornborough (@cinelitchick) January 13, 2025
Yall gotta watch “The Front Room” on HBO max
— Roc (@Roc_0722) January 12, 2025
That Brandy movie the front room is streaming on Max. Gonna watch it again the movie was funny asl
— BillNeverChills (@blkteddyruxpin) January 9, 2025
“Front Room” on Max starring THE Brandy Norwood is GOODT!
— Epiphany Amber Thiessen (@colormejassy) January 5, 2025
What do you think? Any plans to check out The Front Room? What other horror titles are worth streaming on Max? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
Categorized:News
