Antibirth

Here's a film that I didn't know too much about outside of the fact that the artwork for the film was quite alluring. I'm really starting to think that a good poster is really a great indicator for my interest in checking out a film. The film stars Natasha Lyonne (of Orange is the New Black fame) and Chloe Sevigny. While the film isn't anything amazing I still think its worth checking out if you enjoy old fashioned body horror and psychedelic elements expressed in film.

This film is about a drug addicted party girl who mysteriously becomes pregnant. However, the symptoms of the pregnancy and the actual circumstances leading to the pregnancy are not quite "regular." As a matter of fact, her baby is not exactly a healthy human. I'll leave the plot at that to not give away much more. Acting wise Lyonne has it down, as this is basically an extension of the drug addicted inmate she plays on Orange is the New Black. Sevigny is also fine for the role as this isn't a challenging role for her either based on her past work.

The film can get quite gory and if that's not something you can stomach, this may not be for you. Its reminiscent of the body horror films that came before in generations passed, a tribute to the work of the masterful David Cronenberg. There's plenty of bright neon lights and crazy imagery in the form of psychedelic hallucinations. Its a joy to watch if you are a fan of visual cinema, quite like I am. In this specific aspect the film really does deliver.

I'd say the film isn't always interesting or leave an everlasting impression but this isn't really an issue because the film offers a nostalgic and trippy vibe that I really appreciated (but this may not resonate well for other film watcher's). I think Lyonne could probably get offered bigger roles in the future but whether she will be able to branch out and take on a different kind of role is still up for question. All in all, its under the radar but worth a watch.

6.5/10

Some folks are partying, a girl named Lou is dragged somewhere by a guy. Next the girl meets with some girlfriends complaining about not feeling well. They joke that she's pregnant. Some sinister guys are collecting urine from females in a fridge. One of them has her lips chewed off or something.

Lou in the meantime starts feeling weirder and weirder and sicker and sicker and indeed starts developing a belly. But that doesn't keep her from getting high non-stop. She has some weird visions. All this takes place in some poor town with a Marine base. There's an awful lot of talk and taking drugs and ridiculous music and silly visions.

At some point Lou meets a woman who seems to have some idea what's going on. She tells her that someone has implanted her with something. She suspects the government is behind this. With her help Lou tracks down some of the bad guys and we more or less find out what they are up to.

It doesn't take long for Lou to be full term and to give birth and here the movie manages to surprise. Some other characters also make an appearance and things do get interesting.

Antibirth focuses on a bunch of ugly people doing ugly things and who listen to hideous music. It's not easy caring about any of them or what's going on, which isn't really much. This is one of those movies, where everything that is said matters. At this pace the movie would have been a solid 2/10. But then suddenly the ending is pretty surprising. The movie works toward something, you know or hope that something interesting will happen, but at the same time you quickly give up. But then suddenly the movie does deliver and it changes one's perspective of the entire film for the better. Clearly a lot more could have been done with this script and the budget should have allowed for a better movie.

Of course, I freely admit I would watch just about anything starring both Natasha Lyonne and Chloë Sevigny . . . what could possibly go wrong?

OK, all joking aside (well, sort of), Natasha and Chloe are absolutely brilliant here, they nail their characters perfectly, and then some.

As for the film itself, the best description that comes to mind is bizarre, twisted, completely ridiculous . . . and very fun to watch.

This is definitely a low budget, B minus sci-fi horror genre' production, with a dash of evil ET conspiracy twists submerged in a veritable swamp of drug dazed existence. Even if the story, such as it is (or perhaps tries to be) is murky at best, the characters are perfect exaggerations of characters I've seen or met over the years.

If anything, this production consists of a very loosely connected jigsaw puzzle of plot pieces, which serves as a sort of ecosystem for the aforementioned exaggerated real life type characters to flourish in.

Well, maybe flourish isn't exactly the appropriate description here.

But however one may want to judge this production, it certainly can't be criticized for lack of uniqueness.

Chloë is particularly adept at playing various roles in unique productions ("Hit and Miss" immediately comes to mind), but this definitely rates as one of the more, well, experimental sorts of indie film productions she has appeared in.

This film is certainly not for everyone, or even most, but for those with an proclivity toward indie projects more than just a bit outside the box, this just could be your cup of tea.

I'll offer a somewhat tentative 6 stars for this one . . .

"Antibirth" starts out promising with some really intriguing characterizations from Natasha Lyonne and Chloe Sevigny. The screenplay has some great dialogue, and Ms. Lyonne in particular is, as usual, fascinating to watch. Unfortunately, as the film begins to develop a plot it becomes more and more derivative, confusing and absurd and stops being enjoyable; it just becomes plodding and dull. There are so many stereotypical subplots from body-horror films as well as ripoffs from "Rosemary's Baby," "Demon Seed" and others that "Antibirth" just becomes another minor product aimed at the quickie Hollywood horror market. Meg Tilly is wasted and looks as though she's still trying to figure out the plot herself during her scenes. I recommend watching the first fifteen minutes and then turning it off and doing something more productive... I stayed until the end and felt ripped off waiting for something to original to happen.

Honestly, I was very sceptic going into this movie, however after letting my guard down and allowing the film to get going, I was drawn into its strange world. The whole experience was a rollercoaster ride. Some of the scenes are immaculately shot, the cinematography really impressed me and took me off guard more than once. And then, during some other scenes I just kept thinking: "oh my god why did they edit it this way?"

The performances are mostly good, the editing, as stated before, has its ups and downs. Honestly just give this movie a shot if you like campy weird horror movies.