Johanna Moder’s latest film, Mother’s Baby, masterfully blends tension, dark humor, and psychological unease, offering a chilling exploration of the unknowns surrounding postpartum depression. For much of its runtime, the film walks a fine line between eerie surrealism and bleak comedy. However, it falters in its final moments, as a series of narrative choices ultimately undermine its most potent element: the ambiguity that defines the protagonist’s unsettling experiences.
The story follows Julia (Marie Leuenberger), a middle-aged orchestra conductor, and her husband, Georg (Hans Löw), who desperately seek a child. Their journey leads them to a prestigious fertility clinic, where they place their trust in the enigmatic Dr. Vilfort (Claes Bang). Boasting a high success rate with his cutting-edge methods, the doctor promises hope. When Julia becomes pregnant, it seems like a dream come true — but things take a strange turn when she gives birth at the clinic. Her newborn son is swiftly whisked away for “emergency treatment” before she can hold him, only to return the following day, seemingly healthy but shrouded in mystery.
As Julia tries to bond with her baby, an overwhelming sense of dread creeps in. She struggles with the inability to connect with the child, refuses to name him, and begins to suspect that the baby may not even be hers. The film carefully observes her growing unease through subtle moments: an off-putting midwife (Julia Franz Richter), unsettling interactions with her husband, and the eerie presence of her newborn, whose unnervingly serene smile and strange behavior begin to resemble the unnerving axolotls seen at Dr. Vilfort’s clinic. The tension builds, leaving Julia — and the audience — to question everything.
Rather than resorting to typical horror tropes, Mother’s Baby thrives on ambiguity, floating its disturbing ideas through gestures and brief, bizarre exchanges with minor characters who seem to vanish once they’ve served their narrative purpose. This narrative restraint is bolstered by Leuenberger’s performance, which masterfully captures Julia’s fragile state of mind, balancing moments of absurdity with the deep, haunting sense of isolation and uncertainty she experiences. Even in the film’s most peculiar scenes, where Julia confronts her baby with a mix of tenderness and horror, Leuenberger maintains an emotional balance that keeps the audience on edge.
The film also displays a surprising dark humor, using the absurdities of early motherhood to highlight the deeply unsettling emotional landscape Julia navigates. By deconstructing the instinctual love a mother feels for her newborn, Mother’s Baby crafts an atmosphere of ever-growing tension, exploring the terrifying possibility that Julia’s maternal bond may be absent entirely. It takes its time diving into genre territory, keeping the audience on tenterhooks, building up to a powerful, terrifying climax — until, that is, the film begins to unravel.
Where Mother’s Baby falters is in its final act. The film’s strength lies in its lingering uncertainties, the sense of dread that permeates every frame, and the creeping suspicion that something is terribly wrong. However, the climax abruptly shifts from its enigmatic style to a more concrete, literal approach, offering conclusions that seem to sever the tension that had built so beautifully. By providing more answers, even if abstract, the film sacrifices the chilling ambiguity that made it so unnerving. In its last moments, Mother’s Baby risks losing the very essence of its horror: the terror of the unknown.
Despite this misstep, Mother’s Baby remains an impressive achievement. The film, alongside other titles in the emerging genre of pregnancy and motherhood horror, signals an exciting shift toward more introspective, psychological narratives. Moder’s work, even with its final flaws, showcases a unique voice and a bold exploration of maternal fear, making it a compelling, if imperfect, piece of cinema.
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