Obsesión fatal

I find films like 'When the Bough Breaks' very frustrating, because they have no chance of living up to their full potential even before the opening credits have rolled. The reason is that their hands are so severely tied behind their back in terms of what they are able to show and portray. There were times in this movie where I was actually surprised how far they went in terms of some graphic violence, yet on other occasions they seemed incredibly limited as to what they could show. The latter was certainly the more predominant case in the film. I can't help but think while I watch films like this that life is too short. Who really wants their films this toned down? Surely no children are out there watching a film about a topic like this. So are there adults out there craving PC, bland nonsense? If so, good on them for catering to those needs. But you'd better expect the rest of us to hate your films.

The other big problem with the film is just how "Been there, done that" it all feels. There isn't a single shred of originality in this film. Not even one moment that could possibly be in the least bit considered an original idea. The amateur nature with which this film was made was nothing short of shocking.

There aren't a lot of good aspects to mention, but if I had to point some out they would be a decent scare near the end that actually worked quite well, and a final 10 minutes or so that weren't actually half bad (although that could have just been because I was comparing them to the 90 minutes that had proceeded them). At the end of the day though my advice would be to not see this film. Everyone who gives their hard earned money to films like this is simply encouraging more films like this to be made. And that would be a very bad thing.

Sad to see stars like Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall sign on for such a rehashed and unrealistic plot. Who's writing this trash, anyways, people who have never talked to anyone in a real marriage? That whole, "I think she's got a 'thing' for you. giggle-hee-hee, It's okay, I think it's cute" said no woman EVER regarding some younger woman who her husband has already stated he finds physically attractive. Such bad decisions by the main characters when it was obvious things were going south made it easy to not care what happened to them. And that whole, "I can't have a baby...I'm not a real woman" quote by Hall's character...puh-leease! Can we stop with that reproductive-normative mess, like motherhood is the be-all-end-all for every woman? ~Sigh~ Chestnut and Hall deserved a much better script and a much better plot for their level of talent. They each have been in the business far too long to be starring in a storyline that is so overdone and repetitive. Nothing to see here folks...

This movie is, I believe, a remake of "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" from 1992. At least, a similar set of elements comes up in both movies, this time with a black cast rather than white. One way or another, it was a good movie, full of suspenseful points, and the acting was good. I liked it.

John and Laura Taylor cannot conceive a child, despite having made all efforts, and have resorted to hiring a surrogate mother, who is sweet (and seriously cute) and generally easy to like and love, a girl named Anna Walsh. But Anna isn't all she seems to be, living an unstable life and hiding her own deep and dark secrets as she develops inappropriate feelings for John, and her obsession with him turns dangerous and violent. What happens next? Buy a ticket and see the movie. LOL

PH

There is some decent talent involved. The premise for the story intrigued and sounded quite good, regardless of its lack of originality. The cover gave the sense it would be fairly suspenseful and interesting. 'When the Bough Breaks' was definitely not a film that sounded like it was going to be a disaster hearing about it.

It as a film is still not that much of a disaster too, there are merits here. The decent potential shown initially is sadly not sustained and generally not lived up to, so sadly 'When the Bough Breaks' is not a particularly good film either. As indicated just now, there was no initial bias against it or wanting to dislike it at all. Far from the truth, actually thought it had potential to be an unexceptional but not too bad film. It was a real shame it wasn't that, but it could have been so much worse.

'When the Bough Breaks' does have good elements. The acting from Regina Hall, Michael K. Williams and Morris Chestnut is better than average, Chestnut actually being quite good and suitably intensely brooding. Definitely the best thing about the film. The production values are not too cheap and the music is ominous without being too intrusive or obvious.

First impressions were a promising start that did intrigue and had some slow-burning suspense.

Sadly, that slow-burning suspense was far from sustained all the way through. 'When the Bough Breaks' generally lacks tension, danger and suspense, hurt by that it treads familiar ground so often that any surprises or anything new cannot be seen. The characters fail to be interesting and don't have much to make one endear to them, it was purposeful for some but don't think that was intent for all of them to be so. The direction does well with the visuals but in terms of the storytelling it fails, being pedestrian in a lot of the first half and then losing control in the second. It gets melodramatic in places and should have been much bolder, for a film with this concept it was rather tame.

Promising beginning aside, the first half is on the dull side. As said by others while the second half does pick up things start getting silly, rushed and implausible, some of it making one feel stupid, culminating in an ending that ends too suddenly and almost unfinished-like. The dialogue is cheesy and very difficult to take seriously, also not flowing naturally. Jaz Sinclair seemed out of her element and doesn't have the chops to carry the lead role and the film, while Theo Rossi is awful, no engagement whatsoever.

Concluding, not terrible but also not good. 4/10 Bethany Cox

I liked it. At first, I thought maybe it was a Lifetime chick flick. But, it was actually on HBO. It had good build up, although you kind of knew what was going to happen. The story line was pretty good and it kept me interested.