False Positive | Film Review

 

I have started to dread seeing the A24 production logo when watching a film. I know that's controversial because they are a universally loved production company, but I have yet to see an A24 horror movie that I've loved. And unfortunately I still haven't.

Lucy (Ilana Glazer) and Adrian (Justin Theroux) think they have found their dream fertility doctor. But when Lucy gets pregnant, she begins to see Dr. Hindle (Pierce Brosnan) in a sinister light.

I liked the concept of this film, which was why I decided to watch it in the first place. But unfortunately the concept was one of the only good things about it.

It started well. It was interesting even though the audience has no idea where it's going.

There are sinister undertones throughout the movie that make you want to know what's going to happen next. It keeps you watching, and guessing.

Lucy was the only likeable character in the film. Even without the sinister undertones, every single character seems to exist in their own separate world, at times it felt like they didn't belong in the same film. And the characters also weren't people that you'd want to see any kind of film about.

Having said that, all of the actors were great in their roles. I haven't seen either Ilana Grazer or Pierce Brosnan in roles quite like these and they played their characters really well.

Ultimately what ruined the film for me was that a lot of the later 'twists' were guessable from really early on. In fact, every single thing that I guessed about the film before seeing it ended up being true, and that was really disappointing. 

But in addition to that, this film could have been straightforward. The overall idea in itself is scary, and could happen in real life. It could have been a simple story grounded in reality. But for some reason the filmmakers decided that it needed to be weird and dream-like, and that took away from every small thing the film did right.

Overall, this was a real disappointment, and I definitely think a few changes could have made it a lot better.

3/10