Bess Wohl

Genre flourishes make for an attention-grabbing visual experience, but here are only so many times the audience wants to see Jo awaken from a nightmare to be unsure if the events happened. Where the film is powerful is in its raw depiction of how overwhelming it can be to take care of a new-born and how easily exhaustion can lead to something dark and extremely alienating.

The film’s knife-edge balance of horror and reality is effectively rendered by filmmaker Bess Wohl, boldly exposing the universal and primal fear that accompanies giving birth, and the general lack of support and understanding faced by new mothers. Jo’s eagerness to become a mother is abruptly undercut when she goes into labor and her experience of giving birth is portrayed as a painful, confusing, bloody fever dream. But Baby Ruby, when she arrives, is beautiful and perfect. Her ears stick out a little, she has an incredibly expressive face and lovely pale blue eyes. She also cries. A lot.