Writer and director Carlo Mirabella-Davis delivers her feature debut "Swallow", a character study, a film built on psychology of abuse, isolation, alienation, depression and obsession. In its center, Haley Bennett puts on a great performance as a newly-wed, newly pregnant housewife who's psyche is slowly crumbling and who can't find any stable ground or control over her life. "Swallow" is a rarely rich movie, but not with plot, characters or action. "Swallow" is a carefully and patiently composed psychological study, clothed up in pastel-like colors and sure-handed, competent and clean-feeling cinematography. The viewer follows Hunter (Haley Bennett) as she struggles to find an emotional ground in her new life in which she has rushed in unprepared. Even though Hunter has it all - wealth, money, free time - "Swallow" makes a good point in saying that materialistic means do not guarantee happiness. Hunter's husband and his family are a controlling, untrustworthy and egoistical bunch, making her suffer even more. Trying to escape the painful routine, Hunter develop a compulsive, obsessive habit to swallow various small things, rocks, needles, marbles, even batteries. On the journey we also learn about the weight of past traumas on her shoulders - on the journey to the eventual resurrection of the mind and free will. Haley Bennett shines all throughout this journey, in a brave and intimate portrayal of a troubled woman. "Swallow" isn't a plot-based movie, but that should already be apparent... It also doesn't exactly fit in the horror genre & long story short, the way its marketed could be misleading to a lot of people who'll like it less for those reasons. There's a level of absurdity and surrealism, but well self-acknowledged and tailored together truly tightly, making "Swallow" feel like a borderless yet solidified piece of mood and contemplation cinema. An art-house with such a psychological weight that it makes up in substance where plot and some other usual, conventional elements do not. Despite "Swallow" being a successful and impressive oddball future cult drama presenting (always) relevant issues in women and, truthfully, the entire society, it also has flaws, like a pacing that is consistent to a fault (never really picks up), lack of story and the fact that it won't satisfy the more mainstream audiences. Not that I care much, I recommend this to those who get intrigued by what can be described as "odd" or "weird" as much as myself. My rating: 7/10.

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