[Review] False Positive
From the minute the film starts, we know that Lucy and Adrian’s journey to becoming parents will not be one of laughs, cute baby booties, and cooing. Directed by John Lee (screenplay by Lee and Glazer), False Positive stars Ilana Glazer (Broad City), Justin Thereoux, and Pierce Brosnan (Mamma Mia, Tomorrow Never Dies). The film follows married couple Lucy and Adrian’s struggle to fall pregnant. After many devastatingly painful pregnancies, the couple attends the clinic of Doctor Hindle. Whilst this new doctor appears well-intentioned to begin with, Lucy soon falls into a spiral of suspicion and paranoia after a series of odd encounters.
The thing I noticed straight away about not only the fertility clinic but also the movie is the minimalist and clinical approach towards life and Lucy’s pregnancy. Doctor Hindle’s approach in treating Lucy is cold, impersonal, and unusual. I get he is a doctor; however, it gave me the impression that he is a cold and apathetic person when it comes to his patients. There are moments where Hindle seems to be so far removed from the patient that his discussions feel almost sociopathic, which would make sense, given that Hindle continues to demonstrate how egotistical and arrogant he is throughout the film. He shows how men are removed from medical procedures that affect women and their bodies. Not only is the Hindle Fertility Clinical a cold and unwelcoming space, the nurses that work there are robotic and cold.
Source: IMDB
Lucy is a hardworking and committed employee at the marketing agency where she works. Even though she works with what appear to be supportive colleagues, Lucy still works and lives in a society that pressures women to balance life, work, and children. It’s an incredibly overwhelming situation, and we see Lucy succumb to this pressure, enduring moments of intense stress, hallucinations, and medical gaslighting by both the bone-chilling Hindle and her doctor husband Adrian. We empathise with Lucy because we are invested in her journey to motherhood. As the gaslighting from those around her continues, Lucy slips slowly into paranoia, which we see perpetuated through how those around her interact with her and her voicing her concerns.
False Positive is a slow-burn psychological thriller, and Lucy’s gradual descent into suspicion feels natural and reasonable. It’s frustrating to watch those around her continue to gaslight her into thinking that she is experiencing “mommy brain,” the term mentioned continuously throughout the film. Glazer puts up a stunning performance from start to end. It’s fantastic to see her in a serious role after spending hours watching her in Broad City. The character of Lucy is fascinating, intelligent, and level-headed. Lucy is important as a juxtaposition to the men in her life trying to steer her into making “the right decisions.” Lucy’s anxieties around her pregnancy are further propelled into concern as she becomes more isolated from those who could have helped. The start of a friendship with Corgan (Sophia Bush), a “mommy group” member, only hastens Lucy’s descent into her anxiety.
Source: IMDB
One aspect that I found incredibly interesting is the exploration of hospital and medical birth plans, which was done through introducing a natural birth doula type character. My sister is an advocate for as little medical intervention as possible in the birthing process. She has given birth to two (incredible) daughters. Although my sister delivered her children in hospital, she did everything she could to make autonomous decisions. As Lucy’s pregnancy progresses through each trimester, new and horrifying symptoms crop up, each with a new battle Lucy must overcome, including a procedure called a reduction. The film is littered with confusing hallucinations and dream-like sequences that ended in trips to the fertility clinic, once again seeing Doctor Hindle. These moments disrupted the flow of the film and caused the story to be muddled a little for me.
Whilst the ending is predictable, it ends in a glorious, blood-soaked “good for her” moment with Lucy enacting her revenge in a brutal and soulless manner. False Positive centres itself around important conversations about medical intervention and autonomy when it comes to women, their bodies, and pregnancy. A lot of women don’t know their rights when it comes to childbirth, and False Positive certainly makes me wonder what choices I would want to make if I ever decide to have children. The process of pregnancy and waiting to give birth feels like a horror scenario full of self-doubt, paranoia, pain, and extremely tough decisions.
