First Born – ABC Film Challenge – Set in England – F – First Born – Movie Review
Director: Nirpal Bhogal
Writer: Sean Hogan, Nirpal Bhogal (Screenplay)
Cast
- Antonia Thomas (Sunshine on Leith)
- Luke Norris (The Duchess)
- Eileen Davies (Sightseers)
- Jonathan Hyde (The Mummy)
Plot: A young couple’s lives are turned upside down when the birth of their first child is accompanied by terrifying entities that threaten their newly-formed family.
Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: First Born starts when Charlie (Thomas) and James (Norris) have their first child. However, it doesn’t take long before they start seeing uncomfortable events around their home. They turn to James’s estranged father Alistair (Hyde) for help, who helps them set up a plan to protect their new daughter Thea.
When Thea starts growing up, Charlie finds the hauntings returning to the household. This leads her to search for other options to stop Thea from being left in danger. Thea gets help from Elizabeth (Davies) who claims to have been dealing with the same problems her whole life.
Verdict on First Born
First Born is a horror movie following a young family trying to deal with an unwanted presence around their daughter. This sees them diving into their family history as the hauntings get more disturbing. In what becomes a race against time to save their daughter.
This is a movie that gets to explore the difficult side of parenthood. It gets to mix this together with demonic creatures attached to their daughter, with the unsure doubts about parenthood. There is some great creepy atmosphere throughout the movie, that shows a new genuine horror being experienced. This also moves away from just a possession concept, focusing more on a connection to the evil outside of our known world.
Final Thoughts – First Born is a disturbing uncomfortable experience into the evil we can’t see.
