Baby Ruby is essentially just a 90 minute movie exploring the fears that come with postpartum after giving birth. It wasn’t bad by any means but entirely incapable of elevating a plot above its thematic elements. It feels like the movie makes its point 30-40 minutes in and just keeps hammering the same themes over and over until the end. It just gets so incredibly exhausting watching this frenzy play out. Parenting is hard. I get it.
This should have simply been a drama or otherwise committed more to the horror, the mixture of genres didn't work for me. The movie introduces dreams vs reality, but never explains what is real and what isn't. I like when movies can be interpreted in different ways, but the entire movie is like this.
Motherhood Anxiety: The Movie
Baby Ruby truly encapsulates the fear, as well as the mental and physical challenges of becoming a new parent, pretty much to the most extreme. Lots of annoying baby crying, some really weird and crude moments and a whole lot of psychological distress. After about half, it started to get repetitive and I kept hoping it would offer something more but it never did. Nothing new or original but the solid performance from Noémie Merlant made it worthwhile and she's the perfect conduit in making the viewer uncomfortable. I wanted a little more of Kit Harrington, whose role felt limited. I believe this would of benefited from being a drama only, just felt like the horror elements were undercooked and unnecessary.
"Honestly, the thing that helped me get through all this was eating my placenta. I made it into a bolognese."
Shout by chewy74BlockedParent2023-02-11T16:40:29Z
Watch it if you don't mind listening to 90 minutes of a baby crying nonstop.