I haven’t told my mom that I watched this movie (CREDIT: Iconic Events/Screenshot)

Starring: Simone Joy Jones, Nicole Richie, Donielle Tremaine Hansley, Ayaamii Sledge, Carter Young, June Squibb, Miles Fowler, Ms. Pat, Jermaine Fowler, Gus Kenworthy, Iantha Richardson

Director: Wade Allain-Marcus

Running Time: 99 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: April 12, 2024 (Theaters)

Y’all know I sometimes like to review movies by asking: would I like this to happen to me? In the case of Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (2024 Version), I don’t think I can go any higher than a “Reply hazy, try again.”

I’ve never seen the original Don’t Tell…, so I don’t know if this 21st century version opted for a totally new direction, but I can say for sure that this is NOT what I was expecting. With a deceased babysitter, I figured the kids would take their newfound freedom and get up to a bunch of unfettered adventures that Mom cannot know about. But instead, the kids need money, so they apply for jobs that Mom cannot know about. Instead of vicarious partying, I had to paddle through vicarious financial precarity. ACK!

Grade: Don’t Tell Mom About the Fraud Either