Parents' Guide to

Inconceivable

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Uneven, violent throwback thriller has iffy messages.

Movie R 2017 105 minutes
Inconceivable Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 18+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Pres
Pres Adult
October 31, 2020
age 18+

Raunchy and dull

Poor story line and acting with gratuitous nudity. One star if that.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
Stephanie C.
Stephanie C. Adult
July 13, 2017
age 18+

Inconceivable

I was disappointed Nick didn't believe his wife he should of known her well enough to stand by her if she said there was a Martian in the front yard especially when the co star is who she is.
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

INCONCEIVABLE is the story of Angela (Gina Gershon), a wealthy Midwestern mother and doctor who seems to have it all: a nice house; a supportive husband, Brian (Nicolas Cage); and an adorable 4-year-old daughter. One day Angela meets her personal trainer Linda's (Natalie Eva Marie) good friend Katie (Nicky Whelan), a single mom who also has a 4-year-old daughter. Angela and Katie become fast friends, so when Katie -- who tells Angela that she fled an abusive marriage -- explains that she has a job prospect across the country, Angela impulsively asks her to be their family's live-in nanny instead. But once Katie moves into Angela and Brian's guest house, things start to take a suspicious turn: Katie swims topless, has sexy encounters with strangers, and violently manipulates her way into being Angela's pregnancy surrogate. At that point, Katie's true motives seem clear, but when will Angela realize what's going on?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2):
Kids say (1):

This '90s-style domestic thriller isn't campy enough (despite Cage, who for once should have let loose with a scenery-chewing performance) to be a guilty pleasure or good enough to be a true homage. Inconceivable screenwriter Chloe King is the daughter of Zalman King -- a specialist in hard-R, sexually graphic psychological thrillers in the '80s and '90 -- and wrote for his Red Shoe Diaries series, so it's no wonder the movie's dialogue is melodramatic. Debut director Jonathan Baker's pacing is uneven, and there are sequences in which viewers don't quite understand what's happening on screen (and not in a clever way). He also unnecessarily gives himself a supporting role as Barry, a close friend of Angela and Brian's who pops up at a few key moments. While it's a director's prerogative whether to appear in his own film, Baker's acting is amateurish and distracting.

As for Gershon, she at least tries to make the best of messy material as the conned mother of the story. Whelan seems to be having fun with her villainous part, but her delivery of certain important lines will make audiences laugh unintentionally. The less said about Linda, the buxom personal trainer, the better, and it's frankly shocking that Faye Dunaway has been reduced to playing the nosy, suspicious grandmother. Clearly she and on-screen son Cage -- and perhaps the entire cast -- did this one for the paycheck. Those looking for better "crazy, vengeful woman" movies (as offensive as they might now seem), should just stick to the '80s and '90s originals.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in Inconceivable. Do you think it's necessary to the story? Does realistic violence affect you differently than stylized violence?

  • How would you describe the movie's messages about women and mothers? Is Katie's character a stereotype? How does the story use cultural "mommy wars" as a theme?

  • What role does sex/physical attraction play in the story? What message does it send when someone's attractiveness is used aggressively?

Movie Details

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