Adalynn

Ok.. this... an interesting journey into post partum depression. Hard to watch if you are a new mom... the lead actress did an ok job. Not understanding why dad would take a week long trip during this time. A mother with a newborn but not over tge loss of another child. The baby.. we never actually see and in some scenes is way to obviously fake.

I say slow burn because this movie is supposedly a horror film.. I guess no longer understand the genre because this isn't horror. It's maternal guilt portrayed in a hard to watch way. But again..I praise the acting of someone who has to carry an entire film virtually alone. Not good.. but not bad.

"Adalynn" is a really well done psychological thriller that is engrossing, anchored by a very strong performance by Sydney Carvill as the titular character.

"Adalynn" begins as Adalynn and her husband Bill return from the hospital with their new infant daughter. We learn right away (in consistent voice-overs by Adalynn and her actions) that Adalynn has some mental issues which seem to be getting acerbated due to post-partum issues. She convinces her husband to go to a conference, saying that she can take care of their new child, and he reluctantly does. But alone, Adalynn begins to descend more and more into instability which may be made worse by events, either real or imagined...

One of the things I like about "Adalynn" is that it doesn't try to trick us -- it puts its cards on the table pretty early on and while it takes some zigs and zags to get the ending, it's never dishonest. And that makes it far more intriguing and disturbing than it might have been otherwise. The performances are uniformly excellent, especially (as I mentioned previously) Ms. Carvill, who is on screen for almost the entire film. And I really like that the movie actually fully explains what's going on at the end.

Pretty strong recommendation on this one from me.

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.

What did I just watch?!

Obviously, it's a psychological exploration of post-partum depression.

But I wouldn't classify it as either a horror or thriller...rather, just a drama.

Calling it a slow burner is an understatement.

Because literally nothing happens in this film.

It's just a low budget film that attempts to portray the psychological downfall of a woman who miscarries.

With bad voiceovers that are meant to be auditory hallucinations.

And some very mediocre acting.

Seriousness of the topic, aside.

This film is just way too slow and boring- even during it's "climax" (which is rather anti-climactic, to say the least).

I mean...the whole thing is based on character development.

But I never found myself actually caring about the main character.

Making it really hard to remain engaged with.

Perhaps it's because I'm not the target market for this kind of story...but I just found this to be a completely forgettable film.

Clock does a much better job of attacking the subject, than this film manages to do, in my opinion.

So maybe watch that instead.

2 out of 10.

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.