Carlo Mirabella-Davis' directorial debut, Swallow, is a good companion piece to the last movie I reviewed--The Invisible Man. They are both about women controlled by men who take their lives back.
In Swallow, the gorgeous and underrated actress Haley Bennett plays Hunter, a housewife who looks and acts like she stepped right out the 1950s and into the 21st century. Hunter is married to Richie (Austin Stowell) a rich daddy's boy with privilege coming out of his entitled ass. It's clear from their interactions that while Hunter adores Richie and just wants to please him, Richie mainly sees Hunter as another beautiful thing to be locked away in his modernist house while he goes out and masters the universe.
Soon after Hunter finds out she's pregnant, she is overcome with an irresistible urge to eat objects. It starts with a marble. Then it's a tack. Then a battery. Hunter is unable to hide her strange compulsion when an ultrasound reveals her secret. Richie and Richie's controlling parents flip their shit and put Hunter on lockdown--she is watched over day and night by a nurse and treated like a naughty child. The one saving grace of Hunter's pica diagnosis is that she begins to see a therapist, which leads her to confront her issues and her past.
I'll pause for a minute so that anyone who wants to see the movie (which is available to rent on Amazon Prime and Vudu) spoiler-free can do so (I'm going to get into spoilers below). I will say that if the thought of watching a woman put sharp objects into her mouth and swallow them makes you want to hurl, you might want to sit this one out.
Grade: A-
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Spoilers ahead! I spoil the whole movie! Turn back now!
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Ok, so Swallow takes an interesting turn about halfway through when Hunter, almost offhandedly, reveals to her therapist that she is the product of rape. Her biological father is a random man who raped her mom. Her mom, a "religious nut" in Hunter's words, kept her because she didn't believe in abortion, even in cases of rape.
Given the fact that Hunter's pica only began after she found out she was pregnant with her twat of a husband's baby, this backstory is, uh, quite relevant to say the least. After Hunter swallows yet another sharp object, Richie and his parents plan to have her committed. But she runs away and hides out in a motel, trying to decide what to do next. Richie calls her and tells her "I will hunt you down, you ungrateful cunt". So, honeymoon's over I guess.
In an intense and deeply moving scene at the end of them movie, Hunter--who has kept a picture of her bio dad, Erwin, in her purse since forever--goes to Erwin's house and confronts him. Erwin is played by the wonderful Denis O'Hare and goddamn if he doesn't act the hell out of this scene. He is celebrating his birthday with his wife and daughter when Hunter comes in and casually mentions she's Jill McCoy's daughter. All she wants from Erwin is to hear that it's not her fault and that she's not like him. And he tells her exactly that. He doesn't deny what he did. He doesn't threaten Hunter. He doesn't lie. She asks why he raped her mom and he replies "It made me feel special". He then tells her that in jail, after being beaten nearly to death, he learned that he wasn't special. That he was shit.
After receiving this closure, Hunter goes to a doctor and gets a pill-induced abortion. By running away from her awful husband, confronting her mother's rapist, and ending her pregnancy, she has finally taken control of her life and choices.
I know my description might make the film sound melodramatic, like a soap opera, or a little too on the nose--and it was, a bit (Richie being soooo awful was a little over the top). But I didn't mind. Some folks may not like the idea of a rapist giving his victim's daughter (his own daughter) the closure she needs, and in doing so, redeem himself a tiny bit. But I was very touched by this scene--a scene of restorative justice if there ever was one. A scene where a woman is told "you are not crazy and you are not bad and you are not at fault" is a powerful thing. And her abortion was handled so casually--not a hospital gown or pair of stirrups in sight, just a woman taking some pills in a mall while eating fries. Damn if that's not a powerful feminist message.
I loved this movie and I recommend it to anyone looking for an unusual drama with a feminist bent.
Grade: A-
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