This film by writer/director Alexis Jacknow will follow a woman’s desperate attempt to fix her broken biological clock.
Chuck says:
Tapping into every expectant mother’s deep well of fears, Alexis Jacknow’s Clock is a genuinely disturbing, if flawed horror film that benefits greatly from brisk pacing and a dynamic lead performance from Dianna Agron. As Ella, a woman in her late 30’s who’ s concerned about her lack of desire to be a mother, the actor holds nothing back in portraying her fear and desperation. Caving into subtle peer pressure and outward anger from her father (Saul Rubinek), she visits a fertility clinic specializing in a radical approach to combat fertility issues. Dr. Simmons (an icy Melora Hardin) does her best to assure her that, while the procedure she is undergoing is safe, it is irreversible. Still, Ella proceeds and after a round of meds and the implanting of a mysterious device, the effects are immediate. Horrific hallucinations, disturbing dreams and mysterious blackouts occur, all testing her mettle and causing her to question whether she does, in fact, want to be a mother or not.
For the most part, Jacknow’s script is rather smart as she folds in elements of Jewish history, Ella’s grandmother having been a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. The memory of her is used to guilt her into continuing the bloodline by her father and how this all ties into our heroine’s troubles is quite clever. Unfortunately, this subplot isn’t developed enough, the potential for a more intimate horror story is left to wither on the vine. There are also some questions regarding her husband’s role in this plot that go frustratingly unanswered. Still and all, the end result is a disturbing one, Jacknow effectively plumbing each woman’s greatest fears with horrific images you’ll find hard to shake.
3 Stars
