Written and directed by Houston Bone, haunted by strange urges and visions, a pregnant woman past her due date accepts an invitation to dinner where the hosts have a demented interest in the birth of her child. Starring: Chloe Van Landschoot, Tymika Tafari, Garrett Hnatiuk, Jane Moffat, Brendan Flynn and Raevv’n Leedham.
In this day and age where we have excellent examples of women-made horror films surrounding women’s issues and women’s health, often when they’re instead made by men, it’s immediately apparent, and that’s the case with Son of Sara, and it’s off-putting. That’s because without something original or unique to bring to the table, it feels entirely unnecessary to have these stories told by people who can’t truly relate to them, and who struggle to write authentic female characters.
Something which is exacerbated by Houston Bone’s overt choices with story and style. There’s an over familiarity, it comes on too fast and too strong, and doesn’t give itself time to establish the characters and tone, before delving into the body horror. There’s a clumsiness to it, the sort of attitude of throwing in things that the filmmaker thinks would be cool, but that don’t have a great deal to add other than removing any and all subtlety.
The story is predictable, it follows a known playbook, with only one or two key plot points. It’s also fairly dumb and misses the mark on its progression. Although the cinematography from Dmitry Lopatin is good work, there’s a nice texture and colouring through, heavy on the darkness and contrast.
The performances are similarly good, Jane Moffat is the real standout here, she feels born for this type of sadistic role and she’s one of the most entertaining things that Son of Sara has to offer. Chloe Van Landschoot is decent as the lead, but she can only take things so far when her character feels insincere and one-noted. Tymika Tafari fares better, Carol has a good personality, and the look is definitely giving Cheryl Dunye vibes, even if the writing and film itself is far, far from it.
Houston Bone clearly had a lot of fun with Son of Sara but the tone that he was going for doesn’t suit the story. It hits a large number of horror clichés along the way, there isn’t a great deal that happens, and certainly nothing you can’t see coming. There was the potential for something fun, but it isn’t executed in a way that’s original or truly has something to add to the genre. It’s vain and self-satisfying, and for a film almost entirely filled with women, following a lesbian couple, and surrounding pregnancy, it does not have a good understanding of women. A disappointing follow-up to Bone’s interesting debut feature I Don’t Know Who You Are.
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