The Lullaby Review: Should’ve Left This One Tucked In Bed
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Reine Swart, Brandon Auret, Thandi Puren
Directed by Darrell Roodt
Using a demonic form of postpartum depression as the driving force in Darrell Roodt’s lackluster spook-fest, The Lullaby could have been so much more than a slow-burning creeper, but when all was said and done, it was the absence of scares and moderately-paced movement that acted as the executioner of this one.
Following the “happy occurrence” that has come to a young lass named Chloe (Swart), and the new little one in her life has left her in a bit of a saddened state – the birth was unexpected, and needless to say her life has been forever changed. Moving back into her old home with her estranged mother (Puren) on-hand to assist, that damned double-d is starting to set in, and if that’s not enough to put her child at risk, she’s now suffering from terrifying visions of a haggard old crone etching her on to kill her newborn – how’s that for a piece of trouble? With a solidly constructed storyline from South Africa (“Siembamba” was the former title) at its back, you’d think that the opportunity to have the cheeze-whiz scared out of you at every turn would be ripe and bountiful…not happenin’ captain.
The real reasoning for Chloe’s sudden swing of serious depression is obviously stamped in blood, but we never really get a full-on reason for what is causing these bed-pissing visions she’s having at all times of the day – for some that might be a good thing as it will leave you to figure it out for yourself, but I’d prefer to have an ironclad reason – it just makes the whole thing more tactile and frightening. Performance-wise, both Swart and Puren are on their game in their representations of a mother-daughter connection gone astray, but the star here belongs to Swart herself as the mentally wrung-out new mom – her pain and distress is written on her face in damn-near every scene, and it’s ultimately saddening to realize that this condition is sometimes an all-too frequent occurrence for some women after childbirth. Look, when all is said and done and the credits have begun to roll on this leaden tale of supposed terror, some of you (maybe not too many) will have opted for a couple of shots of whiskey down the old gullet before drifting off to sleep instead of listening to this lullaby any longer.
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Film
Summary
Don’t you dare stick your head out of the covers before this lullaby wraps up…because there’s a very good chance you’ll be forced to sit through it again.
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