The House of Yes

On Thanksgiving in 1983, Marty Pascal travels from New York City to McLean, Virginia, to visit his family: mother Mrs. Pascal, younger brother Anthony, and twin sister "Jackie-O". Jackie-O, recently released from a psychiatric hospital, is obsessed with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and emulates her style of dress and hairstyle. Marty surprises his family with news he is engaged; he introduces his fiancée Lesly, a waitress at a doughnut store. Lesly's arrival disrupts the family's gathering, and Jackie-O conspires to break the couple up.

It becomes apparent that Marty and Jackie-O were involved in an incestuous relationship as teenagers. Jackie-O convinces Marty to play their favorite childhood "game", involving using a gun loaded with blanks to re-enact the Kennedy assassination; the "game" serves as foreplay for sex. A horrified Lesly witnesses the encounter and speaks to Anthony, who had tried to warn her of the nature of Marty and Jackie's relationship. He convinces Lesly that he is a virgin and dying of a brain tumor, leading to a brief and awkward sexual encounter.

In the morning, Lesly confronts Marty about what she witnessed. Marty breaks down and begs Lesly to return to New York with him. Jackie-O convinces Marty that she will let him leave if he agrees to play the game one final time. Armed with the gun, Jackie-O recalls the events that led to their absent father's departure; Marty claims that he walked out on the family the day of the Kennedy assassination, but Jackie-O believes that he was shot by Mrs. Pascal and buried in the backyard. Jackie-O fires the gun at Marty, now loaded with real bullets, killing him. Footage of Jackie Kennedy is then shown as Lesly screams. Lesly runs from the house and a flashback of Jackie-O in her costume as a teen is being filmed by Marty as she asks him to “stop it.”

• Parker Posey as "Jackie-O" Pascal
  • Rachael Leigh Cook as young "Jackie-O"
• Josh Hamilton as Marty Pascal
  • David Love as the voice of young Marty
• Tori Spelling as Lesly
• Freddie Prinze Jr. as Anthony Pascal
• Geneviève Bujold as Mrs. Pascal

The film was reportedly financed entirely by Tori Spelling's father Aaron Spelling and his company Spelling Entertainment.[2][3][4] It premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival,[5] where its screening attracted the interest of Miramax.[5] According to Variety, Miramax paid two million dollars to acquire the distribution rights to the film.[5] The House of Yes was given a limited theatrical release beginning on October 10, 1997.[6] The film was a box-office disappointment, grossing only $626,057 on its $1.5 million budget.[7]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 62% based on 39 reviews.[8] On Metacritic the film has a score of 58% based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9]

Siskel and Ebert gave the film two thumbs down on the October 25, 1997 episode of their program.[10] Roger Ebert looked upon the film more favorably in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, stating "The dialogue, adapted by director Mark Waters from Wendy MacLeod's stage play, is smart and terse, with a lot of back-and-forth word play, most of it driven by Jackie-O, who is played by Posey as smart, dark and fresh out of an institution [...] While it was running, I was not bored."[11]

In his positive review for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman wrote that "The House of Yes is knowingly overripe, a kitsch melodrama that dares to make incest sexy."[12] He also praised the casting of Posey, noting that "Parker Posey may never have a role that suits her as perfectly."[12] Of Spelling, Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote, "Casting Spelling as the fiancee was an inspired stroke, as auds already associate her with a certain cluelessness but she’s actually quite good, too, as Lesly gradually reveals a surprising determination beneath her squarer-than-square surface."[5] The Austin Chronicle acknowledged the strong performances of the cast, but stated, "it's just that there's really not all that much for them to do."[13]

For her performance, Posey was awarded a Special Recognition for Acting Award at Sundance.[14]

• The House of Yes at IMDb
• The House of Yes at Rotten Tomatoes
• The House of Yes at Box Office Mojo