FirstBorn (2016) Movie Review
Written By: FR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Nirpal Bhogal
Writers: Sean Hogan, Nirpal Bhogal
Producers: John Jencks, Robert Muston, Lucy Selwood, Jay Taylor, et. al.
Date Released: June 19, 2016
Cast:
Antonia Thomas as Charlie
Luke Norris as James
Thea Petrie as Thea
Eileen Davies as Elizabeth
Jonathan Hyde as Alistair
Tommaso Di Vincenzo as Cracked Face (as Tomasso Di Vincenzo)
Elias Robson as Baby Thea
Chetna Pandya as Doctor
Rating = 3/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
When Charlie became pregnant, her boyfriend James moves in together with her to raise the baby, Thea. As soon as Thea was born, strange things have started happening at home. They contact Charlie’s estranged father Alistair, who is an occultist, and he visits his son and his daughter-in-law. He discovers that Thea is surrounded by evil entities and the parents should protect her following some rules including never letting Thea have any doll with face. They teach Thea to control her ability but a couple of years later, their house is invaded by entities. Charlie and James seek help with the powerful occultist Elizabeth who has the same gift or curse.
Gore Factor
There is no bloodshed nor killing or slashing in this movie. Most of the gore comes from the unseen forces causing the parents to be carried up in the air or cause obvious discomfort. There are images of supernatural entities which may cause jump scares and make the audience winced at the sight.
The Grave Review
FirstBorn (2016) is an intense movie with a solid story. It’s one of those movies that makes you think what you will do if you were in the same situation. Within the first few minutes, the movie gives the audience the warmth of having a family’s nurturing environment. In the beginning of these occurrences. there are some creepy and violent scenes. However, they are always very much in line with the story, so it doesn’t go too far, but it is very effective and consistent. The reactions of parents, who want to protect their child, but also fear the circumstances, are very believable. If something crazy starts happening around the house the minute the newborn baby comes home, the first instinct that parents do is to protect the child. And that’s basically the premise of this film.
FirstBorn (2016) is well-acted and produce a solid performance from its main characters. It’s surprisingly laid back in a way that makes it realistic and not over the top. To go along with the solid performance is a well-written script. The dialogues are controlled and unassuming in spite of the tragedies going around them.
The movie moves the audience to go along with the story, whatever the parents are experiencing. They are put in a crazy situation and can’t really choose if they believe in demons or supernatural creatures. Whatever is happening, it is creating havoc right now. It is refreshing that the story doesn’t revolve much around them trying to find explanations more so than dealing with the situation.
There is nothing much on the atmosphere nor special effects. But it deals more on the story of the family trying to survive the inevitable.
Because of the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives FirstBorn (2016) three graves out of five graves.
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