Womb

An almost absurdly slow-paced drama, Womb follows Eva Green’s Rebecca as she falls for a charming local (Matt Smith’s Tommy) and almost immediately loses him in a random traffic accident – with the film subsequently detailing the consequences of her decision to give birth to his clone. It’s a rather fascinating premise that’s utilized to consistently underwhelming effect by director Benedek Fliegauf, as the filmmaker infuses the proceedings with an exceedingly deliberate sensibility that remains at least somewhat problematic from start to finish. It’s a testament to the strength of Green’s performance and to the often striking visuals that Womb generally manages to hold the viewer’s interest, with the inherently compelling nature of the film’s mystery (eg what’s Rebecca planning to do with the clone, exactly?) certainly perpetuating the intriguing (yet all-too-languid) atmosphere. It’s only as things become more and more clear that Womb begins to fall apart, as the storyline adopts an increasingly illogical feel that inevitably proves insurmountable (ie this seems like an awful lot to go through for someone that Rebecca only knew for a few days). The film, which eventually morphs into a disappointingly standard mother/son drama, is finally unable to live up to the promise of its off-kilter setup, and one can’t help but wish that screenwriter Fliegauf had placed more of an emphasis on the narrative’s sci-fi elements (ie there are vague references to other clones being ostracized).

** out of ****