I spend a lot of time scouring the Internet, searching for new films to watch. So, when I first read that horror fans were touting a film about woman with a compulsion to swallow inedible objects, I was pretty sure I had stumbled upon another for the list. I guess that is the kind of gimmick plot that speaks to me.

But it took a while before I finally watched Swallow. I waited for it to land on some streaming service I was already paying for, and I knew my expectations were unfairly unrealistic. But after viewing a run of disappointing movies, I thought it time to shell out a little cash and rent Swallow (yeah, I do things legally) hoping my instincts were right. Turns out, Swallow was even better than I anticipated. In fact, I put it up there with Midsommar as one of my favourite films from 2019.

Swallow, the debut feature by Carlo Mirabella-Davis, is a psychological thriller wrapped around a body horror premise. It is a film about Hunter (Haley Bennett), a young woman with a middle-class upbringing, adjusts to her new role as Richie’s (Austen Stowell) wife. Financially, it would seem, Hunter has hit the jackpot. Richie, with his father’s blessing, is about to become the new CEO of his father’s Manhattan company. At the start of the film, we see that Hunter desperately wants to play the role of devoted housewife for Richie, but something is clearly missing. Her new life as a trophy wife is a lonely one, devoid of ambition, and though she does her best to be a perfect housewife, she is plagued by feelings of inadequacy.

Then one day, Hunter gets pregnant and is given a self-help maternity book by her mother-in-law that suggests she should “try something new every day”, a difficult task when your whole world involves maintaining your rather large mansion and little else. That is, until Hunter eyes a marble and an idea, or rather more of a compulsion, pops into head.

Needles to say, the objects Hunter swallows afterwards become increasingly dangerous.

Interestingly, Swallow’s promise of body horror got many horror fans in through the door and fans of the genre have been amongst the loudest to champion it, yet this film is not actually a horror movie by any tradition standard. (There are also has a number incidents that employ dark humour, but I wouldn’t call Swallow a dark comedy either.) There absolutely will be some people who see this film and despise it, feeling they were the victims of a bait and switch. After all, most of the “More Like This” films on Swallow’s page are horror films. (To be fair, Swallow never really market itself as a horror film.) But because Swallow is such a great film, nobody should blame the horror fans for embracing it as their own anyways. For comparisons sake, I’d say it has quite a bit in common with Julia Ducournau’s Raw. If there is horror here, and I dare to call it that, it comes mostly from the Hunter’s peculiar ailment, and later, the shame and the embarrassment that comes from being discovered. The self-harming nature of Hunter’s addiction puts her at odds with her husband and her domineering stepparents who prioritize protecting the baby over her well being. For affliction also shatters perceptions that she is suitable as a wife for Richie. She becomes a pariah trapped by the whims of those who have access to vast resources and the willingness to use them.

Of course, none of this would work if Mirabella-Davis’ direction and Bennett’s performance weren’t so damn good at making Hunter, miraculously, so easy to empathize with. The story itself is a kind of personal tribute to Mirabella-Davis’ grandmother, who had undergone electroshock therapy and a lobotomy because of her obsession with washing her hands. Bennett plays Hunter with a kind of vulnerably innocent that can almost be defined as restrained quirkiness. It is a performance unlike any I have seen. Hunter may not always come across as the most well-educated protagonist, but she makes up for it her genuine heart. She has things she wants to say, even if some of it is trivial, but cannot because her feelings of inferiority make it seem as though she is tiptoeing through glass. That a woman like Hunter would develop an unhealthy eating compulsion during her pregnancy makes a lot of sense, but what is unexpected is how empowered her deviant behaviour makes her. Hands down, Bennett’s portrayal as Hunter is easily one of the best performances by any actress on The Midnight Selections. She is a woman who finds her voice only after her social image has been demolished.

But that is not to take away from Austen Stowell pitch perfect performance as Richie, the privileged husband that can not hide his temper when he feels no longer in control. Or David Rasche and Elizabeth Marvel as the judgemental stepparents. In fact, the entire casting for Swallow is truly outstanding.

Just when you think you know where Swallow is going, Hunter finally tells her psychiatrist, in a scene wonderfully oozing with dark comedy, that thing about her mother. And that is perhaps Mirabella-Davis greatest strength as a director. He knows what details to reveal and when, and when to also hold back. Many people have referred to Swallow as a “modern fairy-tale”, an analogy that is made possible by the extent the story is told through Hunter’s perspective. For a moment, we experience events through the eyes of a woman who is clearly mentally unwell and yet it becomes almost impossible to doubt her sanity. We even start to appreciate why Hunter views all attempts to break her habit as suffocating and, ironically, root for her to continue acting on her compulsion as though it’s an act of liberation. The script is amazing, slowly revealing that Hunter’s seemingly simple reality is actually full of layered complexities.

Swallow is a brilliant film. It is well written, well-directed and well-acted. Behind nearly every line of dialogue you feel a second meaning or motivation. Generally, films that contain a type of gimmick for a premise tend not be good, but Swallow rises far above its gimmick by delivering a powerful critique on how society tries to control a women’s body. It is also a fascinatingly original depiction of uncontrollable compulsive behaviour.

I feel like Carlo Mirabella-Davis can rest easy knowing that he succeeded in paying proper homage to the memory of his grandmother and the sins that once were laid upon her. I look forward to his next movie. I hope he continues to flirt with horror.