Not content with exposing the true horror of the cosy nuclear family (Hereditary) and ruining summer festis for us all for life (Midsommar), A24’s next terrifying film takes on the miracle of life, with pregnancy horror False Positive.
A film about the anxiety of pregnancy and fertility, False Positive stars Broad City’s Ilana Glazer as Lucy, an expectant mother who starts to feel weird about her pregnancy when she spots a parasitic demon staring back at her from the grainy screen of her ultrasound. Fair enough!
Justifiably freaked out by the experience, Lucy confides in her skeptical husband Adrian (Justin Theroux) that she suspects their fertility specialist Dr Hindle (Pierce Brosnan) has gone all Rosemary’s Baby, satanic medical malpractice on them. “I think Dr Hindle did something”, she says in the creepy new trailer for False Positive. “I think they’re in on it.”
Spiralling, she begins to see and hear visions of demonic children, but when she confides in those meant to support her, like the well-meaning but ultimately dumb unnamed friend played by Sophia Bush, they put her experiences down to “mommy brain”.
Unable to find any help, Lucy enlists the assistance of a midwife, played by award winning theatre actor Zainab Jah, to help her find out what the hell is going on. Working together, the two women try to explore the “natural” way to expel a demon from your rapidly changing body, as well as to uncover the unsettling truth about her doctor.
False Positive drops on Hulu on 24 June, but sadly there’s no word on where you can watch it in the UK just yet. Written by Ilana Glazer herself in collaboration with director John Lee, the film probably hits close to home, given that she’s currently pregnant in real life with her own first child. Congrats to Ilana! But this film reminds us all to use protection. Like, three different kinds, simultaneously, ideally.
Watch the full trailer for False Positive here.