First Born

OK well, I've just seen the movie. First I expected a lot from it, it had a promising beginning, dark and creepy paranoia stuff, my favs :) But at one point, I've lost it... And since I'm totally annoyed by this ignorance of mine, can PLEASE someone explain couple of things for me? I get it that the movie was based od PPD, but how exactly does that witchcraft woman fit in? And the ending, what the hell was that?!! Last I concluded (at least I thought I was on the right track) was that she bought that witchcraft book, 'fond out' that the lady was doing some kind of black magic over her and she got lost of that baby doll.

I sincerely thought that the doll was the last piece of that voodoo crap and we'll have a happy ending. But what the hell happened when she buried that doll? And what happened to her, precisely- with her memory, brain or whatever...? I'm furious and I don't get it! So please, if anyone has a good and (more or less) logical version of the possible ending, it would help a lot :) Than U!!

This must be one of Shue's worst yet, While watching the film I was intrigued by the sheer mystery of the film.

I had no idea or could have guessed what the outcome would be...

And then a truly awful ending which ruined what originally had me gripped.

I only voted four because of my original impression of the film(before Isaw the end) Avoid at all costs!!!!!

Story outline - A dancer (shue) finds she is pregnant, her husband , an up and coming businessman moves them out to a big house to raise their child away from the city, While battling her own depression the lonely house starts to eat away at her , causing a large amount of paranoia, or is it?

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")

While I thought Elisabeth Shue did a wonderful performance of a new mother going through the anxiety of post par-tum depression, the supporting actors were not as engaging. Her emotions were believable, but the storyline was extremely confusing. Perhaps because that was the whole point of the movie? Was the entire theme centered around the confusion, fear, and anxiety that most new mothers face? Because the ENDING completely destroyed any sympathy I had for what the main character. This movie left me with a HORRIBLE, unsettling feeling. I don't want to spoil the movie for everyone, but to the comments posted prior, I actually DID have to watch the movie again. There are subtle foreshadowing events that reveal her insecurities building...not only as a mother, but also as someone responsible for another life. I just hoped for a better ending.

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.