Swallow

Haley Bennett won Best Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival for her portrayal of a newly pregnant woman with a seemingly perfect home and husband in this boldly satirical psychological feminist thriller.

Hunter goes about her days alone, preparing dinner for her husband and tending to their impeccable home. But beneath Hunter’s flawlessly coiffed exterior roils a quiet rage. After she finds out she’s pregnant it emerges – as pica, a compulsive eating disorder where she swallows inedible objects. It starts with a marble and escalates from there.

Carlo Mirabella-Davis (The Swell Season, MIFF 2011) takes on patriarchal control over female bodies and the misery that often underpins the performance of expected gender roles in this unpredictable, tense and radical film. Bennett begins with the passive beauty of a fairytale princess trapped inside her own Stepford nightmare to convey the twisted desperation of those who want to break free.

“Mirabella-Davis has crafted a sharp and surprising modern fable around a woman whose environment has been weaponized against her since birth.” – IndieWire

Contains high-impact themes