Pregnancy is hell—figuratively and, as in this constipated quasi-horror feature directed by John Lee (Pee-wee’s Big Holiday), literally. Broad City comedian Ilana Glazer (she and Lee worked together on the show) stars as a marketing professional who’s struggling to get pregnant; her husband (Justin Theroux) suggests they seek the assistance of his med school professor (Pierce Brosnan), an esteemed fertility specialist. Glazer’s Lucy soon becomes pregnant with triplets, the reduction from three to one of which prompts what at first might appear to be a mental breakdown. In the tradition of Rosemary’s Baby (an obvious influence; the film was scripted by Lee and Glazer, based on a story concocted in collaboration with author Alissa Nutting), it’s initially indeterminate whether Lucy is truly unstable or if something’s up between her husband, the doctor, and the clinic’s peculiar staff (Gretchen Mol, who plays an overly cheerful nurse, is especially discomfiting). There’s a lot going on in terms of what the film is exploring—infertility, reproductive autonomy, and the experience of being pregnant in the workplace, among other things—though it probes nothing with any depth. Glazer is an interesting performer, but Brosnan and Mol stand out amidst the enveloping mediocrity. On the whole it’s vaguely reminiscent of a staid, direct-to-video horror film from the 90s, complete with an unnerving, sporadic pulse of a soundtrack. With Sophia Bush.
False Positive
1 hour 32 min
