'Dying for Motherhood' Review: A sinister tale of desperately wanting to have a child one doesn't deserve
Spoilers for the Lifetime thriller 'Dying for Motherhood'
They say there is nothing like a mother's love, from it's protective nature to its overbearing power. Lifetimes thriller takes a woman's need for motherhood to the point of insanity as the Parkers take in broke and pregnant Tracy McCann (Hannah Bamberg) to fulfill their innate and neurotic need to be parents. The movie showcases pristine privilege that brings manipulation and abusiveness to its forefront with actors playing the part of creepy puppets to eerie satisfaction. A reality all too possible in the real world, the audacity of this movie is probably the most jarring as they put a black shadow on the nature-nurture aspect of parenting. How much is too much?
The movie opens up with a pregnant woman named Julie Meyer (Tommi Rose) who seems to be running away from a huge mansion. As she tries to escape we are skipped to a scene where a nurse forces her to push her baby out while she screams "no" so belligerently, it makes you wonder why a mother would not want her baby in the world. Fast forward to Tracy McCann, who finds out at a doctor's appointment that she's having a baby girl, but there's only one thing that's keeping her from happy motherhood: An abusive husband.
After having realized that she isn't able to hide a pregnancy at 21 weeks anymore, Tracy makes the grave and dangerous decision to run away from her husband, Bobby (Daniel Contois). She is unable to report him to the cops as Bobby was once a cop and has buddies in the force. Tracy takes an advance from her boss at the Beachside Cafe, Ed (Owen Miller) and runs away to a motel. She is presented with more than the perfect opportunity for her baby the next morning. Begging to be helped at an adoption agency, she gets to meet former nurse Genevieve Parker and her husband and investor, Patrick Parker. If you've keen enough to notice, Genevieve is the same nurse that was forcing Julie to push out her baby. This is clearly not the Parkers' first rodeo.
Enamored by a large home and a life she's never seen before, Tracy is almost gas lit into being part of the Parkers' family. After almost being abused by the motel owner, she was saved by Patrick — he found out where she was staying, something she didn't find odd — she was given a room in their mansion to live. "Sometimes we have guests but mostly it's just us," says Genevieve, an eerie prelude to the horror that was about to ensue. While Tracy decides to tell the Parkers that the father of her child is dead, it is revealed the almost perfectly rehearsed attitude and plastered smile served by Genevieve comes from her desperate need to adopt a baby. A car accident that ended up in a ruptured uterus has been the obstacle in her having a child for herself. Also, Patrick has to be on medications, which he clearly does not take. With subtle emotional manipulation, Tracy agrees to allow the Parkers to adopt her future baby.
From there on starts a journey of a creepy in-house birthing suite, the revelation of who Julie was, the return of Bobby and the need to fight injustice. Add some bloody murder and you have the perfect gross fest of the consequences of so desperately wanting a child one doesn't deserve.
Emmanuelle Vaugier's Genevieve Parker is enticing in her ways as she plays a role of intense manipulation almost at the verge of complete neuroses. You wouldn't want to live with her, trust us. We don't know if it's her barbie doll looks or her plastered attitude that creeps us out, but she most certainly was able to deliver her role as a dangerous woman with looks that could kill. Hannah Bamberg's Tracy McCann brings in the fresh-faced innocent soon-to-be mother that finds out what the Parkers were hiding. The role was played quite simply as it was demanded to foreshow an ending that we know Genevieve deserved.
Although the actions of the Parkers were slightly predictable due to our conditioning of earlier creepy productions, the twist that involves July and Tracy is not only heartwarming but brings a strong declaration of triumph to overcome complete neurosis. An hour and a half of complex emotions and a mother's cruelty will have you wonder of how true a scenario like this can be. Money can buy you a lot of things, but a mother's love can't be judged nor overcome.
If you like the 1995 thriller 'The Tie That Binds' or the much creepier 2009 horror 'Orphan', this might be the perfect movie night flex for you.
'Dying for Motherhood' premiered on April 25, 2020, on Lifetime at 8/7c.
