A surrogate mom for a couple becomes dangerously obsessed with the soon-to-be father.
(Source-Imdb.com)
When the Bough Breaks Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws74Ie4fMc8
Rated: PG-13
The drama/mystery, 'When the Bough Breaks.' was directed by John Francis "Jon" Cassar. The story is about a married couple who uses a surrogate mother to help them have a baby, but the joys of becoming a parent is not as easy as they couple expected.
Did this film have me on the edge of my seat gnawing at my fingernails like a baby or was it instead a giant bore and made me want to take a nap?
I looked up the meaning of 'Bough'. A bough is the main brach of a tree, so the title is basically saying: when the main branch of the tree breaks. That would lead to the whole tree starting to fall apart obviously and in my opinion, that's how it felt between the couple John and Laura Taylor (Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall) when dealing with their surrogate Anna Walsh (Jaz Sinclair).
I thought the acting from the couple was decent and you could feel their frustration with the events that were happening to them, although sometimes I think they could have amped up their emotions when it came to them being afraid.
Anna's actress was just a step less impressive than the couple's. Since the movie introduces Anna, she seems to stick with this forced smile that makes it look like she was too afraid to go all out with her expressions. The constant smiling alone blew her cover of trying to pretend she wasn't a villain as well; if someone never saw the trailer to this, I'm sure they would guess right away that she's supposed to be the antagonist. The movie gives several clues within her mannerisms that spoils her role in the movie. I needed something more from the actress and I felt like I wasn't getting it.
Also, I'm guessing that it's just me but I think the actress for Anna looks almost too young for the role, no offense. Seeing her performance and how she tended to behave childishly and spoke very little upon first meeting her, I thought it fit the mannerisms of a little girl so it made her advances on John even more creepy.
The structure of the story felt like it was cutting off scenes too quickly and there should have been a little more dialogue or action involved before anything could move forward.
For example, there is a scene where it shows John and Laura at their respective jobs. The film shows about 10 seconds of them working before it suddenly switches to another scene, so it left me wondering about what was the purpose of showing that scene anyways? They could have edited out them doing their jobs because they didn't say anything of importance, they were just working as usual.
I have a comment on the start of the movie. It begins with immediately introducing Anna and Anna even converses with Laura before the movie hits the 5 minute mark. At first I was okay with seeing Anna right away, but watching the scenes play out and Anna showing obvious antagonistic signs, the beginning of the movie felt very rushed and it felt like the writers just wanted to get to the juicy parts of the story.
A positive I will mention though is the script itself. Though some scenes, especially with Anna's boyfriend Mike Mitchell (Theo Rossi) can be pretty over the top and cheesy, I think overall the characters were believable and did everything in their power to get what they wanted mainly through wit, which is what I really liked. A compliment to Anna's character for coming up with so many good excuses as to why she behaved the way she did and how she would manage to get the upper hand against the couple.
I learned a lot about her character and it's understandable how she would become the woman she was, which when thought about for a while it's very depressing to think about. For me, I wanted to have sympathy for her but I knew I shouldn't have and that feeling is something I commend the writers for putting into me. I doubt anyone else would feel the same way though because I can be sensitive sometimes.
As for the couple, I also liked their personal story too. It is implied that their love wasn't always so perfect and at one point they were interested more in the sexual side of a relationship rather than true love. So it was a funny epiphany for me when I realized near the end of the movie how the conflict with Anna wanting John forced John to decide whether he'd give into sexual temptation or be a faithful husband.
Speaking of that conflict, though it doesn't mainly include Laura, once Anna is interested in John it's like Laura isn't a part of the story anymore; it's all about Anna and John for the majority of the movie.
It felt like it was only focusing on the woman's obsession with another woman's husband, similar to the 2009 movie 'Obsession.' Granted, the movie summary says that this is what the story is about, it's not just about that, I would even consider it a side conflict rather than the main one.
I haven't talked too much on Mike, Anna's boyfriend. The character was a basic trope of the abusive boyfriend who's too weak at hiding that he's an abusive boyfriend. At least with Anna, it can take people a little more time to realize she's bad or assume she's a complete victim to Mike and she's also very complex. Mike just felt like a character the movie wanted you to hate because he's so obviously bad.
This feature isn't graphic enough that you'd have to shield your kids' eyes from the screen (although this isn't the first movie you'd probably go for if you intend to bring a kid). There's only one love scene, but even that doesn't show much or have the lovers obnoxiously moaning, so at most you'd be a little annoyed it's a love scene or a little uncomfortable, but it's nothing to really worry about. There is no graphic nudity, little swearing, a little blood and a couple jump scares, but overall a tame film. If you watch the Lifetime channel and have seen their movies often, then you'd probably imagine this is a Lifetime movie.
The ending to this is also kind of depressing, depending on your predictions on what will happen to the characters. It will make more sense if you watched the movie, however I wouldn't recommend to watch in theaters. You could wait for it to come on the Lifetime channel or Netflix, perhaps rent it.
It's one of those movies that I think you can enjoy making fun of. It isn't a boring movie, but it's certainly not the next 'Unfaithful'. The characters are decent enough that you're not rolling their eyes at their stupidity, the scene transitions are a bit confusing. Even so, it was a fun viewing session from beginning to end and I will give 'When the Bough Breaks' a 3 out of 5 stars.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
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Despite how I enjoyed the story, I do think it could have been stronger if the writers simply let Mike be the main villain and not Anna. We have so many stories about the surrogate mother trying to keep the baby or steal the husband, but I don't know if we have many stories about how the surrogate mother tries to fight her own temptations and realizes that she is lonely because of the abuse she goes through with her spouse and her and the couple team up to help defeat the spouse so both the surrogate and the baby would be safe and sound. Personally, I find that a lot more unique.
There's another movie called 'When the Bough Breaks' made in 1994 about a completely opposite story to this one. It's a thriller/drama about a murder apparently.
Huh, it showed the villain right away, so it's getting to the main plot quickly. Not too bad.
I found the comment, "Your interview guy is a bully" funny.
Now that I think about the beginning of the movie, it feels unfinished already, like I'm missing an important piece of information...
No! Cute cat which means its going to die!
Showing the dress tag? I get what this implies (that she stole it), but it makes the audience question her already and wouldn't you want some more build up till that happens?
I liked that Laura stopped John from initiating sex, it shows her pain that she couldn't conceive and the writers didn't forget that pain. It would be hard to get frisky after the couple's turmoil.
Anna is weirdly quiet, but I will let that slide. Some people are like that.
I like how they added the element of the abusive boyfriend, though it's a bit cliche, it's different from these surrogate movies. The boyfriend can help affect the actions of Anna.
Laura, it's really strange how you bring up how beautiful Anna is and encouraging John to say it too. It's almost like you want him to have naughty thoughts about her.
Weird how he wants to have sex after talking to the boyfriend of your surrogate who punched her in the face. It's almost like you want Anna to later see you two doing it to stir up drama.
Laura, stop it! Don't bring up how Anna is feeling like she wants to have sex with men! That's silly foreshadowing.
It was a weird cut where John and Anna were talking on the couch (where Anna wants him to touch his baby) and it changes to John coming back to give her food, why not make that one consecutive scene since it's in the same location? The second scene with the pair only goes on for 10 seconds before it goes to a different location.
Ahh, close up face! Also, of course it's Mike, who else would Anna be seeing?
Why is Anna worried about them not having the kid when she shows signs that she wants to take over their lifestyle? Inconsistent character here.
Oh yeah, just choke your girlfriend in a public area.
I like the song that plays when Anna is lying on the ground in the red dress.
I like that the husband is straightforward.
When Anna says "You're drunk!" to Mike after he hits her. How do you know he was drunk? He just got there. Did you smell the alcohol on his breath? A better question would have been, "Are you drunk?"
Exposition guy! Telling us the whole backstory of Anna in less than a minute!
Wait, is that...Legends of the Hidden Temple in that aquarium?
I want someone to make a parody of this movie and after the get the kid and let him grow up he turns out to be a complete brat.
Is John's actor from Why did I get married? ...He's not.
So John slept with Anna to earn trust, that's still rape though and it's uncomfortable knowing that.
I rolled my eyes when the 'Rock a bye, baby' song was playing as Laura walked up the stairs.
Why the speed up motion towards John's back like Anna some kind of ghost? It makes it seem like she dashed there.
Is the ending implying that John is going to jail because he will take the blame for Laura about hitting Anna with the car? If so, sad...
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