Birthrite

If Midsommar and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle had a creepy little baby, it would be BIRTHRITE. It's got that gorgeous, unsettling folk horror energy mixed with the tension of a pregnancy thriller, and it just works. The cursed-town stuff is deliciously weird, the characters feel alive, and the slow build had me squirming in my seat. Totally my new go-to rec for anyone who likes their horror beautiful, eerie, and a little messed up.

With "Birthrite" being a horror movie, then I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch it. Sure, I had never heard about the movie, so I didn't have any expectations, nor did I have a clue as to what I was in for.

Writers Patch Darragh and Erin Gann failed to scribble down a particularly entertaining script. The narrative in the movie was sluggishly paced and there just simply wasn't enough of anything interesting happening to keep the movie afloat. And that made sitting through "Birthrite" quite a test of will.

The one thing that worked in favor of the movie was the fact that I wasn't familiar with a single actress or actor on the cast list. Yeah, I actually enjoy watching unfamiliar and new talents on the screen whenever I watch a movie. And while the script in "Birthrite" was a swing and a miss, then the acting performances were still fair.

Visually, then there is nothing noteworthy to be said about "Birthrite". A shame really, because the movie needed all the support in the world, but there weren't any special effects to lift up the boring narrative.

As an avid horror aficionado, then I wouldn't recommend you to waste 104 minutes on watching "Birthrite". Some of us literally suffered through this ordeal of a movie, so you don't have to; you're quite welcome.

And this movie will definitely never grace my screen a second time, as I was virtually struggling to finish it the first time around.

My rating of director Ross Partridge's 2025 horror movie "Birthrite" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.