There are no degrees of separation between the cast of this film.

Many interesting projects seem to be born out of the pandemic quarantine and just now coming to fruition. Filmmakers with all this time on their hands apparently with nothing else to do were inspired to develop some interesting movies, it seems. The latest to come out of that period and onto the big screen is Family Movie, an idea Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick had to bring their clan closer together in dark times. So they have spent the past four years or so merging the Bacon brigade into the horror genre and the results just premiered at SXSW (appropriately on Friday the 13th). Based on the finished product, I would say they are on to something swell, a nepo baby nightmare come to life.

The Kevin & Kyra Film as it is dubbed find the husband-and-wife stars in great form making a low-budget horror film about the making of a low-budget horror film. Since Kevin has directed Kyra in the past and vice versa, and both have hired their kids Sosie Bacon and Travis Bacon before for various functions in the family business, this idea seems like a natural, a gimmick yes but one that turns into a very amusing and fun trip into the lower echelon of filmmaking, real and fake.

In this conceit — written by Dan Beers, who came up with the concept to which Bacon and Sedgwick sparked — Kevin plays who appears to be truly the worst-reviewed director in the business, a guy who turns out one horrible grisly horror movie after another, but now finds because of financing and similar pressures he needs the help of his immediate family for his latest opus, and that includes his wife (Sedgwick) who has seen better days as an actress but takes this on out of love.

The cast also includes their actress daughter (Sosie Bacon), who as we meet here has just gotten the great word from her agent that she landed a role on a much bigger deal shooting in Vancouver. Alhough Dad’s movie is only half finished she has to tell him she has to leave to take on what could be a career-changer. Keeping her there means rushing the shoot, and they are game to finish this thing as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, complications arise as an annoying neighbor (John Carroll Lynch) is making things especially difficult, which is why Mom takes on the task of “negotiating” with him to shut up his dog who keeps ruining the shots among other irritants. When this guy decides to sexually seduce her she up and kills him, effectively wrapping up the body and mopping up the blood while dragging him into the farm’s barn.

In a movie within a movie where there are lots of gross killings there is suddenly a real one to deal with, and that is just the beginning of the fun here as we learn one member of the family has been doing this kind of thing for quite a while — but only with the best of intentions for the good of everyone else.

There can be no question the Bacons are having a hell of a good time not only sending up this well-traveled genre but also deliciously adding more buckets of blood to it. The premise may sound like a riff, but it really works, especially in incorporating the considerable talents of not only its directors-producers-stars but also the game kids, who prove talent is inherited. Both Sosie and Travis deliver on all counts, as does their veteran dad, but it is Kyra who gets the scene-stealing role here and again demonstrates real comedic chops (in every sense of that word).

With a top supporting cast including Lynch, a riotous Jackie Earle Haley, Liza Koshy and others, the Bacons are keeping it all in the family and deliver a winning entertainment that should have no problem finding a willing distributor.

Title: Family Movie
Festival: SXSW (Narrative Spotlight)
Directors: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick
Screenwriter: Dan Beers
Cast: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Sosie Bacon, Travis Bacon, Liza Koshy, John Carroll Lynch, Jackie Earle Haley, Andrea Savage, Austin Amelio, Scoot McNairy, Nathaniel Woolsey
Sales agent: Gersh
Running time: 1 hr 21 mins