First Born

First Born is the exploration of the inner world of a woman suffering a postpartum psychosis. This "Yellow Wallpaper" story is definitely not a Lifetime Network sort of film--it's much darker and scarier. It's downright creepy in a very subtle and artful way. After all the gore and explosions of today's thriller genre it's refreshing to see something so subdued and inward while maintaining a such a high level of suspense and desperation.

Elizabeth Shue is a dancer (and yes, she really looks like a dancer) who is stuck in a huge, spacious and mostly empty house in the suburbs while her rich, emotionally disengaged husband works in the city and comes home late at night, leaving her alone during the days with her newborn. Already a bit obsessive-compulsive, she begins to crack up in a serious way. What follows is rendered with impeccable attention to detail and maximum emotional impact. It is a psychological study but at the same time beautifully rendered visually. "First Born" has no didactic ax to grind, no social message, no deus ex machina in the form of social workers or therapists; it's just a fun scary story for intelligent moviegoers.

When the dancer Laura (Elizabeth Shue) feels sick after a presentation, she finds that she is pregnant. Her husband and successful executive Steven (Steven Mackintosh) decides to buy a huge house in the suburb to raise their baby daughter Jessica in an adequate environment. Laura changes her lifestyle, feels nervous alone with the rats in the house and accidentally kills their dog with poison. Later Steven hires Mrs. Kasperian (Kathleen Chalfant) to help Laura in the housework and with the baby, but Laura believes the old woman wishes to harm Jessica using witchcraft. Laura has a breakdown, and when she recovers, her mother moves to her house to help her with the baby. During the night, Laura decides to get rid off a doll she found in the house changing their lives forever.

"First Born" is a weird and disturbing movie, and talking to some friends of mine I noted that this is the type of film extremely unpleasant for women. The beautiful Elizabeth Shue is thinner and has a good performance, but her character is not well developed, therefore it is not possible to know whether she is a mother with postpartum psychosis or simply a mad woman. I liked this film, but I do not dare to recommend it especially for potential mothers. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Filha das Sombras" ("Daughter of the Darkness")

This one was a great movie about nothing, and I mean really nothing. From the beginning till' the end, everything happens has nothing to do with reality(or fiction) and common sense, not even touching common sense. However, I might add that from the "directoral" point of view it is a great achievement to create that much suspense without practically having a story. In the end, I do not regret watching it(we all need to see all kinds of movies to create a real and correct hierarchy in our minds) but I would not recommend it to any of my friends... I hope I didn't offend anyone who reads this, and I apologize for my English. Thank you.

"First Born" is a clichéd but watchable thriller.

Laura (Shue) is a dancer who gets pregnant and moves into a country home with her husband (Steven Mackintosh). After the pregnancy, she starts getting post-partum depression. She uses (Tom Cruise's) advice to not go on drugs. She starts seeing and believing things that aren't real.

Elisabeth Shue puts in a good performance, but the script and plotting are lacking. It's basically the same scene for 90 minutes. Laura goes crazy and no believes her, Ad Nauseum. The ending, while interesting, can't bring the movie up to snuff in time.

Overall, "First Born" is a decent movie, but the script, idea and execution could've been way better.

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I usually love anything with Elizabeth Shue. This one just didn't seem right. The movies leaves to many questions unanswered. What was interesting, however, on a personal level, was that this reminded me of my ex-wife's behavior after our child (2nd born), so I give high grades for realism.

At one point in the film, I thought this was going to Rosemary's baby reincarnate, and sadly it wasn't. The story line was sub-par and I wouldn't recommend anyone seeing movie as I feel I just wasted 2 hours of my life.

So why 4 and not 1? There are far worse films out there and at least this one was decently produced.