Birthrite

First, the good parts of this film. The cast was reasonably acceptable and the actors tried hard.

The plot could have been interesting, too, if it hadn't been so unnecessarily drawn out. The ending was more than disappointing and didn't really make much sense.

And one big question that kept coming up for me throughout the film: were the animal trainers too expensive?

The dog Simon only appears when he is needed for some element of the plot. Otherwise, he is never seen in the house or the surrounding area. He doesn't come to cuddle or anything like that. He is only there when he is needed. In addition, he completely changes his appearance at the wedding. Secondly, there is the horse in the room. When you first see the shed, you hear a horse snorting in the background and there are riding accessories lying around. You never get to see this animal, so why give the impression that it's there? And who feeds the poor thing?

The story was very contrived and tiresome. I watched the film to the end, but I wish I hadn't.

Save yourself the time and watch something more exciting instead.

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.