The horror trope of pregnancy isn’t unknown to the horror genre, but first-time feature director Joe Marcantonio takes it to a new level with the psychological thriller, Kindred.
In this smart, beautifully shot, unnerving psychological thriller, fear lives in the mind of a mother-to-be, Charlotte (Tamara Lawrance), who tragically loses her boyfriend (Edward Holcroft) in a horrendous farming accident. Being plagued with nightmares, and not being allowed to leave the house or see friends, Charlotte is then convinced she is being gaslit by her deceased boyfriend’s family in order to claim her life and take her child to raise on their own. Is it all in her head? Is she falling in the same mental illness pattern as her mother? Or is this family trying to take over her life? Kindred has the viewer asking these questions and many more.
Kindred also stars Jack Lowden (Fighting with my Family) and Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter) as the deceased family whom Charlotte feels is trying to kidnap her. All the actors in this film do a tremendous job of keeping you on edge, while Lawrence sells the painful experience she is going through while trying to free herself from the constraints she feels she has been put in.
In the end, I highly recommend watching this film. Kindred does an incredible job of holding the audience in suspense and keeping you guessing throughout the entire film. There are no cheap scares or shocks, just an uneasy feeling that continues to get under the skin and remains there the entirety of the film. However, at times it can start to feel as though you’re in a trauma loop, but this, in my opinion, isn’t a bad thing. I personally feel this was done in order to make the viewer see through Charlotte’s eyes in order for us to feel her anxiety and trauma rather than giving us a clear view of what is truly going happening to her.
Kindred hits theaters and streaming on November 6, 2020.
