Antibirth (2016)
Starring Natasha Lyonne, Chloe Sevigny, Meg Tilly
Directed by Danny Perez
Like a seriously bad flashback, Danny Perez’s latest, Antibirth, sticks in your system and keeps drumming up at the worst possible times – is it worth the trip to get there, however? Only time will tell, my little addicts – step on in and let’s get to the bottom of this one.
With a psychedelic Rosemary’s Baby-like feel to it, the movie warns against the repercussions of druggin’ and reproducin’ – quite the doubleheader of doom, if you ask me. Lyonne plays Lou, a shot-out, hard-chargin’ party girl who truly knows no boundaries when it comes to self-medicating and having a good time. After one particular night in question (buffered by a myriad of enhancing pharmaceuticals), she awakens to find quite the baby bump swirling around in her gut – now I would have thought it to be the spinach dip, and we all know the cautions of fiesta-food, but this is something a bit more sinister. Best friend Sadie (Sevigny) chalks this up as simple as “you got knocked up – deal with it”, but Lou’s memory of an intimate night isn’t very clear in her clouded memory. In fact, she positively cannot remember the last time she laid down with a guy, let alone one trying to slip one past the goalie! The fact that her stomach is expanding at twice the rate of a normally impregnated female is enough of a mind-bender, but when her nipples start to inexplicably ooze blood, then it’s long overdue time to overreact. Will the assistance of a conspiracy-kook (Tilly) aid in the diagnosis of Lou’s unborn…whatever it is, or could this simply be a lingering effect of all those damn pills she’s flushed down her gullet over the years?
Perez takes the drug-epidemic and gives it a brashly-colored thematic spin in a film that can work wonders for those contemplating getting off of the high-times parade route. Funny instances and dark, brooding moments add a nice touch as well for those who don’t want their cinematic experience tainted with so much grittiness, perversion or depravity, cause you know, they’re all in there, too. The movie is carried squarely on the shoulders of Lyonne’s performance, and it holds up fairly well in essence, working Lou’s clouded psyche and tripped-out emotions to the fullest extent, and Sevigny acts as a nice (if not sparingly spread-out) compliment to her portrayal. The film, however isn’t outside the realm of no-fault – there are numerous attempts at “WTF” moments that don’t stick to the wall as much as I’d hoped, and after awhile, it is possible to lose interest in these characters in their binged-out ways. Overall, Antibirth will find an audience amongst stoners and non-stoners alike, and for those who like their films hazed and deliriously magnetic, then by all means, indulge, but don’t overdo it – that’s how you get addicted.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
