First season
When comedy and terror merge, the result is usually as macabre as it is hilarious. A murderous baby is the protagonist of one of the coolest series of the moment, victim of an absurd controversy on the internet according to the times
‘The Baby’, one of the latest HBO Max bets, starts strong. A desperate woman, with a baby in her arms, flees through the night, pursued by the police. Two law enforcement officers nearly caught up with her fugitive, shining their flashlight on her, gun in her hand. The fugitive leans out of a cliff and seems obsessed with throwing the little boy into the void. Moments of great tension. What happens next is unexpected. This is how one of the most curious series of the moment begins, whose premise has sowed confusion among some Internet users. The “twitter” critical mass has generated a tremendous discussion around a clear satire on motherhood that uses black humor as a throwing weapon. There seems to be a conspiracy to destabilize the traditional family concept and streaming entertainment platforms are to blame. In the 21st century, the premiere of ‘The Devil’s Seed’, ‘The Other’ or ‘The Prophecy’ could lead to fiery diatribes about being a bad mother, not to mention cult productions like ‘He’s alive!’ or ‘Baby Blood’. With this latest highly hemoglobin French film, the story that concerns us has quite a few points in common, although the main character arrives on loan and passes from hand to hand as in a chain of favors that becomes a real nightmare.
The baby in question is as adorable as it is sinister, because people die around him in strange circumstances, as in the ‘Fatal Fate’ saga. Accidents worthy of the program ‘1,000 ways to die’ happen. The panic of a ridiculous death is present in a story as funny as it is perverse that appeals to the commonplaces of the horror genre, turning them around with absurd situations. Chapters of 25 minutes, the perfect duration, which have little to do with the psychological horror of ‘Servant’, the chilling series sponsored by Shyamalan, equally recommended (great double program). Each delivery begins with a misfortune, presenting endearing characters, some cartoonish, who do not know how long they will last on stage. The enigmatic little being from the underworld is a potential Damien, but his good face, of never having broken a plate, saves him over and over again from being eliminated by whoever adopts him without knowing why. The pouts hypnotize anyone, but the snowball is getting bigger and bigger and absolute catastrophe is just around the corner. The diabolical child, that naive creature, is just ashamed, but the doubt remains in the atmosphere invited to suspense. ‘The Baby’ is the brainchild of Siân Robins-Grace (‘Sex Education’) and Lucy Gaymer, with Michelle de Swarte (‘The Marchioness’) and Amira Ghazalla (‘The Rhythm of Vengeance’) leading the cast.
A still from ‘The Baby’.
Portrayed using the camera with ingenious framing, ‘The Baby’, a solvent black comedy, laughs at some clichés about motherhood, plays with them, as ‘Prevenge’ did with more viscerality, a film that toured numerous festivals specializing in 2016, drawing attention for not making value judgments about the cruel behavior of its protagonist, a pregnant woman who does not hesitate to cut the throats of her victims, whether they deserve it or not, to say goodbye with a kiss on the forehead. Her depraved acts are due to the commands of the voice of the baby that she carries inside of her. Between terror and comedy, Alice Lowe, seen in Ben Wheatley’s funny and very black ‘Tourists’, was placed in front of and behind the camera while pregnant in real life, a fact that adds concern to a proposal that can be unsettling for the unaccustomed viewer. The trauma, physical and psychological, that a pregnancy can cause, takes on physicality before our eyes. Once again, the genre audiovisual becomes perfect for pulling metaphors, this time providing some reflections on femininity, in addition to seeking the complicit laughter of the prejudiced audience.
‘The Baby’ is available on HBO Max.
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