I’ve always found the home invasion thriller to be the scariest subgenre of horror: the terror of people infringing on your space, the loss of the sense of safety, the spooky masks. But it doesn’t have to be that way. By making the wannabe burglars into incompetent, hopelessly overmatched buffoons and focusing on the complex familial relationship at its center, Tubi’s new Don’t Mess with Grandma is a charming, tension-free, low-budget home invasion action comedy with plenty of laughs and some excellent leading performances.
JT (Michael Jai White) is a Marine veteran with a bum knee and a penchant for metal music (the original title when it played at Fantastic Fest was Sunset Superman, referencing the Dio song on the movie’s soundtrack). In fact, he’s a bit of a metal dork — he wears denim vests, has an unkempt flat top/mohawk situation going on, and listens to an audiobook of a fantasy series about wizards — but he’s also a total sweetheart, working with a Meals on Wheels-like organization called “Trusted Trays,” where he helps seniors with laundry, meals, and getting things from high shelves.
JT also drives five hours a day to see his grandmother (Jackie Richardson), who lives in the middle of nowhere. Which, unsurprisingly, means no neighbors, no cell service, and, thus, no opportunities for help if something goes wrong. When a group of aspiring burglars shows up to the house, a decidedly drunk JT decides not to worry Granna, making for a very fun push and pull as he tries to dispatch them without alerting her.
Image: Tubi
While the home invasion is the main source of action, Don’t Mess with Grandma is much more about JT’s relationship with his grandmother. White and Richardson have fantastic rapport, contrasting his sweetness with her spice; Granna is constantly bossing JT around and telling him his life choices aren’t good enough (or asking him when he’s going to fix that damn sink), while JT’s patience is continually tested by both his grandma’s demeanor and the repeated incursions of the wannabe home invaders. Writer-director Jason Krawczyk makes ample space for these comedic moments, which feel like the meat of the movie to the action scenes’ gravy.
White may be best known as one of the great martial arts stars of his era, but he’s an underrated comedic actor who has actually been in more comedies than action movies in his storied career (it’s not just Black Dynamite). JT is much more afraid of his grandma’s large dog Rufus than the invaders, and he frequently runs toward the criminals to get away from the dog. (I feel it’s not too much of a spoiler to say he and Rufus eventually team up. Good dog!) There are the physical aspects — fighting bad guys while trying to keep Granna unaware — but also some ace line deliveries, like when he gives Rufus a pump-up speech, tries and fails to stop a word from coming out of his mouth, or suddenly remarks to himself, “Granna’s literally bathing in the blood of mine enemies.”
The plot and atmosphere is a lot like Home Alone, just with a cantankerous, unaware grandmother in the background. But removing children from the situation entirely lessens the tension even more, and Home Alone doesn’t feature an outstandingly committed Minnesota-nice Billy Zane, described accurately by Polygon contributor Matt Essary as “What if Elmer Fudd was one of ‘The Strangers?’”
The home invaders are very Coen bros.-lite, quirky and incompetent people who have lots of character. Zane is the highlight, but the group’s frustration at JT’s super-competence is very enjoyable — a standout beat is the group’s very evocative pig masks they use for the attempted burglary end up preventing them from seeing anything. And there’s a surprisingly affirming flirty, queer B-plot that plays out among this group that truly warmed my heart. To its benefit, Don’t Mess with Grandma doesn’t make a huge deal about this or become self-congratulatory about its inclusiveness, rather just letting it play out as a normal budding romance.
The result is a charming movie that’s more about complicated and hilarious familial relationships than a home invasion, leaning on the many skills of its leading man to deliver a very enjoyable 80 minutes of action comedy. If you’re here for Michael Jai White action, there are better movies for you to explore. But if you’re here for Michael Jai White, multifaceted movie star, you’re in the right place.
Don’t Mess with Grandma is now streaming for free with ads on Tubi.
