Clock

I adore horror movies that are still finding ways to be different this day and age. Alexis writes and directs a love poem metaphor to women everywhere who don't want to have children in a society where they are made to feel like outsiders.

The lead actress's performance is absolutely stellar, the writing is great, and the body horror is apt (albeit of a narrow stripe, that will likely go over the head of those who don't enjoy cerebral horrors).

If you like your horror movies to be intellectual, Feminist, well-acted, off the beaten path, and just plain interesting as compared to the usual fare, Clock will work for you. I very much look forward to seeing more of Alexis' work in future.

Despite what some of the reviewers say...yes. There are some very insightful things that are addressed in the story. But it doesn't pay off in the end, in my opinion. It's a bit confused, i think...part of it a commentary on child bearing/rearing and part of it a horror story. But i don't feel the two blended well...maybe in two or three rewrites, but it felt like it was still a work in progress and found itself needing an ending which wasn't at all satisfying. Just a 'let's do this and get it over with' type last act...the first two acts were enjoyable, though. And endings are difficult. But important.

Clock is a particularly female-oriented horror film.

So I'm not sure that I am the right person to be reviewing.

As, in the film, we find ourselves following Ella (played by Dianna Agron), who is facing the ticking of her biological clock, and all the anxieties that come with it.

Doctors seem to think she suffers from a syndrome, that instills a deep seeded fear about having children within her.

So it doesn't help that she feels pressured to have children by her family and friends...not to mention, nature, itself.

As a result, she subjects herself to a series of grueling psychological tests, at an institute that is studying women with her condition.

A series of tests that force her to confront the underlying darkness that has prevented her from having children up until this point.

This darkness seems to be a trait inherited from cultural trauma, passed down through the generations.

A trauma relating to her Jewish ancestry, and the experience her family went through during WWII.

With these rigorous psychological tests bringing her underlying anxieties to the surface...in the form of a series of bizarre hallucinations.

Making the whole thing a psychological horror.

As this darkness starts to consume her life.

And affect her relationship with her friends.

Particularly the pregnant ones.

The name of the film comes a grandfather clock her father owns, which is her family's most prized heirloom.

Being the only thing they managed to salvage from the war.

So it, not only, symbolizes the pressure she feels to procreate...but might also harbour a dark supernatural force...which has been preventing her from wanting to bring children into such a broken world.

It all seems to be pretty straight forward, until they throw a bit of a twist in at the end.

Which solidifies her descent into madness.

A result of the manipulation she feels she is being put through.

Agron does an excellent job, portraying a woman spiraling out of control, as a result of the transition from potential motherhood, to being a crone.

Ultimately leading to the film's unexpected conclusion (even when the hints are there).

I see that this film has been garnering some rather harsh reactions - mostly, from male viewers.

But I don't think they are warranted.

Because it is both an entertaining, and engaging, film.

That held my attention throughout.

But don't take my word for it...cause I'm just a dude.

As only middle aged, and post menopausal, women can truly understand.

5.5 out of 10.

A talented interior designer struggling with her biological clock(and her family, friends and society insisting that she get a kid) agrees to a clinical trial to fix it, and things take a turn for the worse.

This is a highly effective piece of elevated horror. There's some incredibly visceral gore. It's only 85 and a half minutes long if you don't count the end credits, and I understand why some say that it should have been an episode of an anthology series like Twilight Zone instead. If it were even 10 minutes longer I would be saying it should be trimmed. Diana Agron delivers an amazing performance as Ella, the protagonist. Honestly, it's worth watching at least once just to experience that. The visual metaphors are very obvious and a little of the thematic material is repeated maybe one or two times too many - "my name is Dr Elizabeth Simmons" especially.

It is very much the product of the Jewish 30-something female writer-director Alexis Jacknow, exploring the anxiety felt especially by her and people in the same situation. Part of this is seen in how it incorporates the Holocaust, fears that it might be repeated, and Jewish guilt. Some have felt that it mishandled Shoah, I disagree. I found it to be appropriate, in good taste, and I think when something so awful happens to a people they should have a lot of freedom in examining what it does to them.

I recommend this to anyone who wants something that honestly looks at the pressures to reproduce and all of the concerns that come with. 7/10.

Would not recommend it if you are looking for a good old horror movie. The movie had a decent setup, a few scary scenes, and the potential to be a great horror movie. However, halfway through, it seemed like the filmmakers decided to abandon the ghost/horror stuff and instead opted for a Disney fairy tale-like storyline with the usual message about how everyone is perfect, and there's nothing to fix. . Most people, including myself, expect a horror movie to be scary. Instead, this movie goes for social and political commentary that may be important, but not whats expected of a horror movie. If anything It was more cringeworthy than horror.