The Breadwinner (2026)

​“The Breadwinner” stars Nate Bargatze, Mandy Moore, Colin Jost, Zach Cherry, Martin Herlihy, Kate Berlant, Kumail Nanjiani, and Will Forte.  Released on May 29, 2026, the film follows a father who becomes a stay-at-home dad for his three kids.

The film was directed by Eric Appel, known for helming “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” and several television shows, including “Eagleheart”, “The Office”, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”, and “The Afterparty”.  A household initially consists of roles that have been the main standards of a traditional family.  While the wife does the heavy lifting by cleaning the house and cooking meals, the husband lies around, watches television, works endless hours, and plays with the kids.  But what if the wife goes out for a few days, whether for a business trip or something else?  Simple: just give the husband that hard labor.  Surely, nothing can go wrong with that.  There’s a good chance you have heard this concept before, and I’m here to tell you that you’re not wrong.  The premise of the dad tackling “mom duties” has been previously done in specific media, particularly the 1983 comedy, “Mr. Mom”, which starred Michael Keaton in his first lead role.  All of that cooking, cleaning, and caring for the kids was part of his training to become the Batman, but you didn’t hear that from me.  This year, we see this history repeat itself, with a family comedy featuring a similar plot and an actor’s film debut.  In short, we have ourselves a “Mr. Mom” for the current generation.  Does it offer the charm and laughs needed to become a winner?  Let’s find out.

The story centers on Nate Wilcox (Bargatze), the loving father of three daughters: Gracie (Stella Grace Fitzgerald), Hadley (Birdie Borria), and Sam (Charlotte Ann Tucker).  Despite his generosity, Nate was often known for his “breadwinner” role, working as a car salesman, while his wife/supermom, Katie (Moore), handles everything around the house.  One day, Katie landed a once-in-a-lifetime deal on “Shark Tank” with her new household invention, which sent her on a lengthy business trip.  This leaves Nate to adapt to his new role as a stay-at-home dad, taking care of the girls while keeping the house running smoothly.  However, he quickly realizes that his duties as both a mom and dad aren’t as easy as they sound, prompting him to find a solution to the messes he created in the process.

I’m not joking when I say that “The Breadwinner” is the “Mr. Mom” of the current era.  Although I’ve seen bits and pieces of the 1983 comedy hit, I’ve seen enough to notice the similarities in this film’s premise.  It would’ve been the reason I should wait until it was on a streaming service, since it looked like a straight-to-streaming movie.  However, I decided to check it out in the theater instead, because why not?  But in all seriousness, I’m usually willing to give certain films a chance even if they don’t look very good from their marketing, with “The Breadwinner” being another example.  From its trailers, it looks like it’s aiming only at families seeking harmless laughs and goofy shenanigans, similar to those released in the 2000s.  While I don’t have much of a problem with that, my only concern is whether it’ll impress me outside the target audience.  Well, I hate to say that it didn’t.  While I’m not surprised by this outcome, I was very disappointed by how generic and boring it turned out to be.

“The Breadwinner” certainly has the elements we would normally see in other family-friendly comedies of the past, including charm, humorous and inoffensive shenanigans, and positive messages.  You know, the basic stuff I grew up watching.  However, what makes it stand out from the pack in a bad way is the effort amid those elements, and there isn’t a whole lot of it.  It’s as if these family-friendly elements are used only as shortcuts to breeze through its straightforward premise, which, again, is a modern-day “Mr. Mom”.  Now, I’m fine with a comedy having a simple, uncomplicated story as long as it’s fun enough to excuse its narrative flaws and make me laugh with its humor.  Unfortunately for me, “The Breadwinner” ended up being a loser on both those occasions.  Usually, I would laugh at something silly, like people’s reactions and a few goofy dialogue, but this film and its surprisingly bland tone did nothing to provoke any reaction from me, not even a chuckle.

It’s a shame, too, given Eric Appel’s track record for film and television.  I thought Appel did a good job of capturing the comedic essence of “Weird”, and he was involved in some solid shows like “The Office”.  So, what exactly went wrong with his direction for this one?  Personally, it would have something to do with the execution.  The film seemed to be aiming for a dramatic approach to the “stay-at-home parent” scenario while retaining its family-friendly nature.  While it does have some amusing mishaps involving Nate’s struggles to take care of his daughters, the film forgoes the overly silly slapstick in favor of a laidback, heartwarming perspective on its similar premise.  It comes with the charm it sought to gain, particularly for the family’s dynamic, but there’s just not enough of it to compensate for the film’s safe approach to its conflicted tone.  Without much of a compelling edge to the drama and narrative aspects, the charm it had got immediately lost in Appel’s lazy attempts to make its clean, deadpan appeal feel…well, less dead.  It’s more of the same as other familiar family movies, with the major difference being the lack of soul in Appel's direction, which makes the concept feel less fun or special.

Before “The Breadwinner”, I had not heard a single thing about Nate Bargatze.  Heck, I didn’t even know he existed amid the stand-up comedian crowd until this film appeared on my radar.  From what I can gather, Bargatze is more of a PG-rated comedian rather than one who goes wild with their uncensored jokes and stories.  He can discuss topics with a clean, deadpan, and observational attitude as long as there isn’t any lewdness sprinkling around, making him stand out from the adult-rated comedians we’re used to watching.  With this being his big-screen debut, it allowed me to see whether Bargatze’s brand of humor could work in film, maybe even serve as a solid introduction for casual viewers.  After watching it, I can conclude that Bargatze has a lot more work to do to fully impress me.  While his performance as Nate was tolerable, the delivery of his humor was anything but amusing.  Understandably, it’s how he functions as a comedian, but his way of delivering his jokes felt somehow lackluster to me, both in his performance and writing.  I’m sure his fans would admire his sense of humor, but it just didn’t click with me.  Maybe I might warm up to him a bit more if I watch more of his stuff, but until then, I would consider myself unimpressed with his debut.

But if there’s one aspect of Bargatze’s screenplay, which he co-wrote with Dan Lagana, I'd acknowledge, it’s the messages.  The script is heavily taken from other similar films, mainly “Mr. Mom”, ranging from its “stay-at-home parent” plot to the humor involving the kids ruffling their parents’ feathers.  It’s everything you would want out of a family comedy, but more boring and tame.  However, it did try to incorporate inspiring messages that audiences would take away, even if the journey towards them was extremely rough.  As a stay-at-home parent, Nate takes on the responsibility of adjusting to a role he’s not fully prepared for.  While his “breadwinner” role is more his style, balancing it with his wife’s humongous schedule and chores is an entirely different story.  In short, it highlights that role adjustments can be a challenge, but it also helps us grow as better people or, in this case, better parents.  If everything is easy, then how do we learn?  Its themes would surely inspire its target audience to focus on what’s really important.  It’s too bad that its extremely generic and cliched script couldn’t match that intent.  As for its supporting cast, they had their moments, including Mandy Moore as Katie and Will Forte as Keegan Jones.  Sadly, they aren’t able to make their forgettable characters more than just hollow versions of those done better in other movies.  Luckily, I’m a sucker for adorable kid characters, particularly Charlotte Ann Tucker’s Sam.

Overall, “The Breadwinner” is a dreadfully generic and unfunny comedy that’s as soggy and ill-tasted as a piece of wet bread.  Nate Bargatze’s cinematic debut isn’t without its moments of inspiration, especially its messages involving responsibility and role adjustments.  However, his clean stand-up humor didn’t connect with me as much as it did with his fans, unlike my experience with other lively comedians.  It also didn’t help that his first foray into film territory was boring, derivative, stale, and at odds with the tone it’s aiming for.  While it may be enjoyed by those familiar with Bargatze’s stand-up routines, the film constantly reminded me that I should’ve been better off staying at home instead.  With its mediocre cast, Eric Appel’s uninspiring direction, cliched screenplay, and forgettable characters, this “stay-at-home” experience is my first major disappointment of this year's summer movie season.

F