Director Stephen Herek’s 1991 cult comedy, “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” is a bit of an awkward movie to talk about today.
It satisfied young audiences at the time with its story about 17-year-old Sue Ellen Crandell (Christina Applegate) whose burned-out mom dips out of town (yay!) and leaves her with her younger siblings and a babysitter (boo!). After their babysitter suddenly croaks, the kids decide to bury her — mistakenly, with the money their mother left her — and attempt to be responsible humans on their own.
That entails Sue Ellen faking professional experience and her age to land a gig coveted by any hip young woman in the early ’90s, when glossy magazines like Teen and Seventeen were all the rage: a job at a fashion brand. Hijinks ensue, obviously.
Still, “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” like many teen movies of its era, is a very specific offering.
The film coasts off fun catch phrases — like the overwhelmed Sue Ellen continually telling her boss, “Right on top of that, Rose!” — and a bona fide star whose charm could help smooth over plot holes like, say, the repercussions for failure to report a dead body or false personation. It is an enjoyable fantasy.
But you’d be hard-pressed to find a glowing review upon its release. Critics panned it as “feebly written,” “incredibly dumb” and a film that “doesn’t exactly pulsate with comic originality.”
(The Macaulay Culkin-starring comedy “Home Alone” came out a year before and was an instant classic, in part because of the same, then more-novel “minor finds entertaining ways to fend for themself after their parents leave them stranded” premise.)
While these reviews often concerningly reflected the older, white and male response to young female-led narratives, they also pointed to a now pressing question with the release of a “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead” remake: What is the point?
Why return to a story that really was of its time — a frothy studio comedy with a recognizable white star, amid a slew of others that were never expected to do much beyond entertain and make money? (And for the record, “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead” was considered a flop at the box office.)
Even more bewilderingly, why redo it now with a Black cast, giving it the tedious responsibility of making a white story culturally relevant for Black characters?
The new “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” directed by “Insecure” star Wade Allain-Marcus, doesn’t really answer those questions. It’s actually another really great example of why Black movies shouldn’t need to ride off the backs of previously white stories simply to exist — even if that’s the narrative Hollywood would like us all to believe.
This new lead cast has the flair and chemistry to be in a star-making movie. Simone Joy Jones, who many audiences recognize as Lisa on “Bel-Air,” steps into Applegate’s shoes with a character now named Tanya. With charisma, comedic chops and romantic star quality, Jones does the best she can to anchor a reimagining that doesn’t have a lot going for it.
Tanya’s siblings and co-conspirators — played by the equally capable Ayaamii Sledge, Carter Young and Donielle T. Hansley Jr. — are also fun to watch. The one rough edge in the cast is Nicole Richie, whose Rose (previously portrayed by Joanna Cassidy) is more trite girl boss than the sharp-heeled aspiration that was alluring to watch.
To be fair, it’s hard to tell whether that’s due to the direction, to Richie’s performance or to the writing by Chuck Hayward, who was nominated for Emmys for both “WandaVision” and “Ted Lasso.” Or maybe it’s a combination of all three things.
There’s just not enough about this new “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead” to justify its existence. It mainly recreates the same catch phrases and scenes — like the stoner younger sibling using the dirty dishes for target practice instead of washing them like his sister asks — with attention rarely paid to plotlines that would affect its Black characters differently.
An example of the latter is the siblings’ collective decision to not go to the police after the babysitter dies, because they’d likely become suspects. That’s a smart nod to cops’ racist treatment of Black people, though gratefully the film doesn’t spend a lot of time making race a central part of its story. But nuances like that make this offering feel like little more than an effort to remind viewers of the far-superior original film.
That’s a shame. Obviously, there’s talent here. But they’re all confined to a story that is both familiar and instantly forgettable.
This meager film also raises questions about the strategy of BET+, which is co-releasing it in theaters. After BET, formerly regarded as the pinnacle of Black entertainment, reportedly was put up for sale in 2023, the network reinvigorated its plans to entice more Black audiences. (BET’s parent company ultimately decided not to sell it.)
But Bloomberg reported last June that BET+ only had 3 million subscribers. (For some perspective, Fox-owned streamer Tubi had “64 million monthly users and has been recognized as a top place to see Black-created content.”)
While the streamer consistently offers new releases — including the short-lived though promising “First Wives Club,” which also reimagined a white ’90s film of the same name — the one that’s earned the most critical acclaim recently is Diarra Kilpatrick’s worthy “Diarra from Detroit.”
Beyond that, it’s hard to tell what exactly the network is doing to bring in new viewers these days. Maybe more theatrical releases are part of its new plan. Though, it’s unlikely that “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” which saddles a largely good Black cast with recycled jokes, will be what helps move that needle.
“Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead” hits theaters Friday and will stream on BET+ beginning May 16.