swallow – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK January 8, 2021 – Team #MOTW’s Best of 2020

January 3, 2021February 14, 2021 Jennifer Merin ammonite, antigone, blow the man down, Coded Bias, grizzlies, hilma aft klimt beyond the visible, lucky grandma, luxor, misbehaviour, Miss Juneteenth, motw, Movie of the Week, Old Guard, radicle monarchs, swallow, yellow rose

We’re saying a final farewell to 2020, a year that has but few fond memories for most folks. But, among the good remembrances are fine films that sustained us not only by providing stress respite, but also by opening minds to much-needed contemplation about the way we live, and by energizing heartfelt aspirations for change for the better. Throughout the year, AWFJ’s #MOTW feature served as a beacon, a guiding light for moviegoers seeking excellent and inspiring entertainment.

Movie of the Week Reviews

MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 2, 2020: SWALLOW

March 1, 2020March 4, 2020 Jennifer Merin 0 Comments betsy bozdech, carlo mirabella davis, Cate Marquis, Haley Bennett, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, motw, Movie of the Week, nikki baughan, pica, sandie angulo chen, Sheila Roberts, susan wloszczyna, swallow

Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ tense drama Swallow — about a repressed young wife who finds herself compelled to eat unusual and even dangerous things — gives new meaning to the phrase “eating your feelings.” Desperate to please her handsome husband and his wealthy parents, Hunter (Haley Bennett) tries to create the perfect life in their designer-ready home. But things are far from perfect under the surface.

Reviews

SWALLOW – Review by Loren King

February 25, 2020March 1, 2020 Loren King 0 Comments carlo mirabella davis, Haley Bennett, motw, Movie of the Week, swallow

Writer/director Carlo Mirabella-Davis and star Haley Bennett, who gives a stunningly modulated performance, have crafted a contemporary horror film laced with black humor and an empowerment message. Swallow is a rare, original feminist thriller whose mounting horrors gradually reveal that the hidden monster is the patriarchy.

Reviews

SWALLOW – Review by Susan Wloszczyna

February 25, 2020March 1, 2020 Susan Wloszczyna 0 Comments carlo mirabella davis, Haley Bennett, motw, Movie of the Week, swallow

With its echoes of Rosemary’s Baby and a bewitching leading lady who checks off many of the qualifications of being a Hitchcock blonde, Swallow is a somewhat uneasy watch that tip-toes close to a body-horror thriller. Writer-director Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ haunting film doesn’t always go down smoothly but it does expose how marriage can be a trap, family skeletons continue to rattle and freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.

Reviews

SWALLOW – Review by Sheila Roberts

February 25, 2020March 1, 2020 Sheila Roberts (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments carlos mirabella davis, Haley Bennett, motw, Movie of the Week, pica, swallow

Haley Bennet delivers a riveting, finely calibrated performance in Swallow, filmmaker Carlo Mirabella-Davis’s unsettling feminist thriller. She plays Hunter Conrad, a young, seemingly happy newlywed who discovers she’s pregnant then becomes obsessed by an urge to swallow inedible, deadly objects.

Reviews

SWALLOW – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

December 19, 2019December 23, 2019 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas 0 Comments carlo mirabella davis, eating disorders, Haley Bennett, ifc, pica disorder, swallow

The risk of spoilers with Swallow is high, so to avoid this suffice it to say that the journey taken by Hunter (Haley Bennett) through her eating disorder takes her exactly to where her story should logically go. Swallow is a film as much about striving for creative freedom as it does a woman desperately clawing her way towards a sense of autonomy, one mouthful at a time. Brave, challenging and desperately needed right now, Swallow is a perfect film about facing our imperfections.