Adalynn

The subject matter is real and this movie takes your there . Powerful performance by Sydney and the Dr . Makes you think this could really happen. I would love to see more from this cast . The reality of postpartum depression is chilling and this film reminds you of all the horror stories you hear in real life, yet it remains tabu to talk about . Makes for a very interesting but scary subject . No one could have predicted the ending they take you through so many doors that you are sure of nothing until the end . Keeps your interest though . I don't often watch horror or psychological thrillers but this one held my attention , like the "Shinning " or "Shutter Island " I'm glad I didn't pass it up .

It seems a little underrated, honestly. I would say it probably should have had a description that even sort of touched on how potentially triggering to a select kind of audience it would be potentially problematic for, but I get the feeling that was kind of the point. The description was vague, there isn't a lot of context given unless you watch it. If you have the hyper vigilance like I do, it will all make sense along the way. There are details super small for support which is actually brilliant. So many tiny clues, though if you miss them? You're not lost without them.

I knew what the end would be to some degree, which is almost always the case with movies/shows, though still found myself a bit off at the point. I knew it was coming, fully expected the outcome, and yet it still felt like I needed to make sure I was right. That should be skipped by a larger, though still not huge, group of people who might be triggered by it. With good reason, I might add. Think serious mental health issues, without giving the whole thing away. If this is a sensitive subject for you? Please skip the movie. Though there is something to be said about the portion that speaks to bringing awareness and the idea that shame forces a masking behavior. It's deeper than it comes across.

It's definitely not rated according to the brain of someone that appreciates the layers of the story more than the budget. And frankly? It probably wouldn't have been so worth the watch with a higher budget. If you can bring yourself to watch it, you'll understand why. That's not to say movies with a similar plot line haven't been made, as with almost every other movie you will see. Obviously the horror concept relates to a very real occurrence in mental health which a million other movies could touch on as well. The likelihood of understanding the mental illness exists, has been part of true crime stories with a different plot line, and even possibly knowing someone who has the symptoms in real life? That's the horror aspect. That's the root. Which is kind of a brilliant way to label horror as an avid horror movie watcher. It's a different take than a slasher or paranormal thriller. I would recommend for my reasons, but again? Not for all.

What I sat down to watch the 2023 movie "Adalynn", I had never actually heard about it. But the movie seemed like it would be worthwhile watching, given all the award emblems on the front of the movie's cover. And with the movie's synopsis also being somewhat interesting, of course I opted to sit down and watch what writer Jerrod D. Brito and director Jacob Byrd had to offer.

I figured that I was in for a horror movie here, but "Adalynn" was more of a psychological thriller than it was a horror movie. So that was a little bit disappointing. Not that the movie wasn't watchable or enjoyable, because it was. I just had expected a bit more scary contents.

Writer Jerrod D. Brito put together a fair enough script and storyline for director Jacob Byrd to bring to the screen. There was a good narrative progress throughout the 88 minutes that the movie ran for. And director Jacob Byrd was definitely good at slowly building up the tension and the narrative.

Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Adalynn", but it should be noted that they had a good ensemble of actors and actresses. Especially leading actress Sydney Carvill really carried the movie quite nicely with her performance with the distraught and challenged Adalynn character.

Visually then "Adalynn" was okay. It is not a movie that make use of a whole lot of special effects or CGI. And that sort of makes it a minimalistic movie, in a sense. But it works, because director Jacob Byrd didn't need to deliver a barrage of special effects to win over the audience with the narrative in the movie.

This movie is worth sitting down watching, if you enjoy a psychological thriller that sort of takes you on a chaotic ride through a woman's degrading mental health and spiraling descent into madness and frustration.

However, "Adalynn" is hardly a movie that warrants more than just a single viewing, as there isn't really sufficient contents and meat on the bone that is the storyline for more than a single viewing.

My rating of "Adalynn" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Horror is an excellent way of exploring things like mental health (Saint Maud), Grief (the babbadook) and in this case post-partum depression. It is something people don't talk about much, and was a great candidate for a film.

Unfortunately it didn't work. At all. The lead actress tried but the script was incredibly clunky and contained some of the worst dialog I have listened too in a long time. It was very stilted, very un-natural, and required the actors to over-act to compensate. Filled with cliches, and the entire thing felt mechanical, like the writer had tried to study humans from a distance through bad TV but had never actually had a relationship with one. You could basically see the calculations he/she had made about each line. The exposition was sloppy, and we constantly learn about the inner mental state of the character because she verbally tells us (through the gimmick of writing in a journal), which is a cop out to give information we should have been able to glean from the acting and visuals (but couldn't because there wasn't space for that).

I don't understand on any level why the writer decided to make the husband a paediatrician, it serves to make every subsequent decision make zero sense at all. He is a qualified medical doctor who knows that his wife has a serious pre-existing mental health condition, is off her medication, the danger that poses, and also knows full well the additional mental health risk from postpartum depression. A conference of other paediatricians is basically the most forgiving event you can imagine in terms of understanding why he would need to bow out. He was also stupid to commit to it, even if the baby arrived slightly earlier than expected. His reaction to her phone call admitting problems was just ridiculous

She then receives medical advice from her doctor, in a conversation where she admits having serious trouble and absolutely 100% shows diagnosable signs of postpartum depression, and despite knowing that she is alone and has a history of mental health problems he does nothing. This again makes even less sense when you think about the fact that the husband is a doctor, it is highly unlikely that he doesn't know her doctor at least professionally because he would have recommended him). On top of that again the dialogue just isn't like any medical conversation anyone has ever had with their doctor, the tone was wrong, the logic of the conversation was wrong, everything about it was wrong.

Even the baby was terrible, there are scenes where the baby is crying and coughing after feeding and you can see very very clearly that it is completely inanimate plastic baby, not even being moved by the actor. They choose silly camera angles to try and disguise it (but then cut to angles that make it obvious thus defeating the point).

The score was also amateurish, the logic seemed to be "something significant has happened, so let's accent it with a loud noise!". The highly discordant noises came in far too early and there is no particular build up in intensity, which there absolutely needed to be.

It was a terrible shame to lump the actors with this film. The script should never ever have been selected for production.

Lots of the other reviews here are from people saying it is too slow, or not "horror" enough. Personally I enjoy both jump scare and gory horror as well as interesting psychological horror, the pacing did not bother me at all. It just isn't a good psychological horror, or drama ,or anything else. Do not allow whomever wrote this script to waste your evening.

This movie deals with mental health issues and uncomfortable parental tragedies that could be triggering for some viewers. Otherwise, "Adalynn" is a layered descent into madness that aims to put the viewer in the title character's shoes. Some may be put off by this, but the director really captures and illustrates the frustration and confusion Adalynn faces throughout the film.

At times, it's uncomfortable. Other times, it can be heartbreaking. Some parts may intentionally squeeze a chuckle out of you. But if there's a takeaway from this film, it's that it really calls out the real-life taboos about postpartum struggles mothers often feel like they need to keep secret.

This underrated thriller may divide audiences, but it's worth a watch nonetheless.