I will be the primary to confess that I like the area of interest being pregnant horror subgenre. These movies can present fascinating takes on the psychology of parenthood, and sometimes comprise distinctive commentary on the state of girls’s healthcare. As such, I used to be enthusiastic about Birthrite, a brand new horror thriller by Ross Partridge.
The film focuses on Wren (Alice Kremelberg), who inherits a home and strikes there together with her girlfriend Maya (Juani Feliz). Maya and Wren are excited when Wren is ready to get pregnant, however quickly discover that the home will not be as calming an surroundings as they’d have hoped.
Birthrite Throws A Lot At The Viewers
Birthrite‘s best power additionally results in its most obvious weak point. In some methods, the movie is all the things I like about being pregnant horror in that it addresses a number of intersecting themes about parenthood, household, the state of healthcare, and psychological well being because it pertains to being pregnant.
This results in a variety of sturdy character growth, particularly for Wren. Although the movie jumps in too shortly and alienates the viewers in its preliminary character shows, I finally felt for Wren on her distressing psychological journey of not being believed by medical doctors.
Nonetheless, with so many themes at play, there are of course some that don’t land in addition to others. Probably the most notably underutilized ingredient is Maya’s relationship together with her dad and mom. Their fraught connection is hinted at early on, and comes into play within the movie’s second act in what was a stirringly acted scene between her and her mom.
It nearly appears like there have been deleted scenes to observe as a result of there isn’t any consequence for this extremely emotional second. This threw off Maya’s character growth and left her as extra the vessel for Wren’s metamorphosis than anything.
The Movie Is Twisty & Surprising (However It Does not At all times Land)
Birthrite makes an extremely daring alternative through the first act that blew me away. The film reveals one thing that adjustments our complete understanding of our foremost character’s reliability, and even what this story is about at its core.
And the film doesn’t cease there. Up till its final frames, it is stuffed with twists and unafraid to enterprise off into surprising instructions. This narrative construction is by far essentially the most compelling ingredient of Birthrite, because it persistently stored me on the sting of my seat, dying to know what would occur subsequent.
However not all of the twists landed. Issues began actually choosing up within the third act, and a few otherwise-great content material obtained misplaced within the shuffle of overly quick modifying.
The Performing Is Often Nice
I wish to shout out casting director Allison Estrin. However my emotions about her casting decisions are difficult. Estrin’s observe report, together with Billions and Mass, exhibits how she is aware of how you can choose an ensemble, replete with scene-stealing one-off characters and well-paired duos.
These sensibilities are actually proven off right here. Supporting actors reminiscent of Jennifer Lafleur steal the present afterward within the movie, exhibiting off Estrin’s astute eye for sturdy supporting performers.
Leads Kremelberg and Feliz, nevertheless, appear extra swallowed up by the movie’s themes. As soon as their motivations and struggles are made clear, Wren and Maya are confirmed to be fairly complicated characters.
Just like the movie itself, nevertheless, it took me some time to seek out Kremelberg and Feliz’s performances to be really plausible. Actors like Lafleur or Callie Beaulieu outshine them even in short scenes. This detracted from my immersion within the movie, particularly within the first act, the place I used to be thrown off by the seeming stiltedness of the leads.
Kremelberg appears extra snug performing with depth than she does with subtler moments, which serves her nicely within the remaining act. Whereas Birthrite had some flaws all through, Partridge knocked it out of the park within the third act, leaving issues on a robust word.
Birthrite
6/10
- Launch Date
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August 8, 2025
- Runtime
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100 minutes
- The movie’s third act saves the movie
- The movie is twisty and surprising
- Birthrite may be inconsistent
- The performing is now at all times nice