The
road to hell is paved with good intentions. This sums
up the psychotic mindset of this film's villain in a
nutshell. A quiet thriller with decent performances
and a chilling premise, Hush revolves around Thoroughbreds
and overly possessive in-laws. Talented and handsome
Jackson Bearing (Johnathon Schaech) is bringing home
his girlfriend for the first time to his mother's
sprawling ranch house in upstate New York. Helen
(Gwyneth Paltrow) is nervous about meeting Martha
(Jessica Lang) and hopes to make a good impression.
She doesn't, by popping up out of Jackson's bed naked
when they've been forbidden to sleep together.
Humiliated by the experience, Helen encourages Jackson
to make amends with his mother, who wants them to move
onto the ranch and stay there.
A
few weeks later she throws up on her boss at work and
makes the discovery that she's pregnant. Jackson is
thrilled, and asks her to marry him. Warned by
Martha's mother-in-law Alice (Nina Foch) that Martha
is untrustworthy and potentially dangerous, Helen
writes her suspicions off as they return to New York
City and their cheap penthouse. One night a mugger
follows her home and tries to harm the baby, stealing
her only piece of jewelry, a locket containing
pictures of her deceased parents. Terrified of the big
city, Helen wants to move to the failing ranch. But
once they arrive, things begin to change. Martha seems
to be telling Helen one story, and Jackson another to deliberately
keep them apart. She's sickeningly sweet but takes up
all of her son's time. Alice continues to encourage
Helen to seek out the truth, but every step nearer
puts a further rift between mother-in-law and
daughter.
As
the due date draws near Helen begins to fear that
Martha may have devious purposes in mind... to take
the baby and end her life. With Jackson gone for the
weekend, her worst nightmares become reality and send
her spiraling into horror beyond her imagining. The
thrills here are reminiscent of Hitchcock, originating
from quietly sinister events rather than fiends
running around with kitchen knives. That's not to say
it isn't scary... having a very pregnant Helen alone
in the house while Martha quietly makes devious
arrangements would make anyone chew her fingernails.
The very best scenes emphasize how helpless Helen is
and yet, strangely when the tables turn and Martha
becomes the victim, we're left with feelings of
dissatisfaction. As a Christian, I cannot condone
cruelty in any form. Martha needs help, not to be told
off and banished. The woman has a screw loose in her
brain! I experienced feelings of grief rather than
satisfaction at the inevitable conclusion.
For
a thriller it's relatively low-key in content but does
include brief backside/upper side breast nudity as
Helen leaps back into bed when meeting her
mother-in-law. She and Jackson kiss passionately in a
darkened hallway and remove some clothes before
falling onto the bed. Martha comes out on the landing
and briefly watches. Helen's anti-conception materials
have been tampered with. There are a few sexual
references (Alice says that Martha is "breeding
herself a grandson"). Martha lifts up the canvas
cover of her mother-in-law's steam bath and makes a
few derogatory remarks about how old the woman is
getting. Profanity is surprisingly light but does
include an f-word, one GD, and many mild abuses of
deity. There isn't a great deal of violence but a man
with a knife does attack Helen in her apartment, and
cut her abdomen, threatening the baby's life. We see
her having an examination in the doctor's office in
which a long needle is pushed through her belly.
Martha
implies that she had an abortion because her first
child, a little girl, had "abnormalities."
Whether or not this is true, we don't know. (It was
most likely a ploy to influence Helen.) She runs cold
water into Alice's steam bath and then leaves her to
catch cold. She also forces Helen to go through giving
birth without pain medications by inducing labor, and
then attempts to inject her with a lethal amount of
horse tranquilizers. Helen slaps Martha soundly across
the face, causing her to fall to the floor. We see a
lot of blood on the sheets, Helen, and the baby during
the birth process. Conversation revolves around a
gruesome murder ruled as an accident by the courts.
It's a very well put together thriller with chilling
twists and turns, but there's something lacking in the
conclusion. It's a bittersweet ending that could have
used further compassion. It's well worth viewing for
the sake of argument but doesn't quite take the cake.
HUSH
As
the due date draws near Helen begins to fear that
Martha may have devious purposes in mind... to take
the baby and end her life. With Jackson gone for the
weekend, her worst nightmares become reality and send
her spiraling into horror beyond her imagining. The
thrills here are reminiscent of Hitchcock, originating
from quietly sinister events rather than fiends
running around with kitchen knives. That's not to say
it isn't scary... having a very pregnant Helen alone
in the house while Martha quietly makes devious
arrangements would make anyone chew her fingernails.
The very best scenes emphasize how helpless Helen is
and yet, strangely when the tables turn and Martha
becomes the victim, we're left with feelings of
dissatisfaction. As a Christian, I cannot condone
cruelty in any form. Martha needs help, not to be told
off and banished. The woman has a screw loose in her
brain! I experienced feelings of grief rather than
satisfaction at the inevitable conclusion.
Martha
implies that she had an abortion because her first
child, a little girl, had "abnormalities."
Whether or not this is true, we don't know. (It was
most likely a ploy to influence Helen.) She runs cold
water into Alice's steam bath and then leaves her to
catch cold. She also forces Helen to go through giving
birth without pain medications by inducing labor, and
then attempts to inject her with a lethal amount of
horse tranquilizers. Helen slaps Martha soundly across
the face, causing her to fall to the floor. We see a
lot of blood on the sheets, Helen, and the baby during
the birth process. Conversation revolves around a
gruesome murder ruled as an accident by the courts.
It's a very well put together thriller with chilling
twists and turns, but there's something lacking in the
conclusion. It's a bittersweet ending that could have
used further compassion. It's well worth viewing for
the sake of argument but doesn't quite take the cake.
