SWALLOW – Review

SWALLOW is currently available on these Digital Platforms: iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay/YouTube, Vudu, PlayStation and these Cable Platforms: Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum, Verizon Fios, Altice, Cox, DirecTV, AT&T, Bend Broadband, Buckeye, Guadalupe Valley, Hotwire Communications, Metrocast, Suddenlink, WOW Internet Cable, RCN, Midcontinent Communications

Review by Stephen Tronicek

Swallow is the type of rare film that actually offers the viewer a surprise. When the film starts, you maybe 100% sure you know where it is going. But you’d be wrong. If we’re talking traditional storytelling, the first act ends in about five minutes, the second in about thirty and the third…well at that point the movie is just beyond any conception that you might have had for it. That’s the beauty of Swallow. The capacity to keep you on your toes, even if the whole film doesn’t really work. 

Swallow follows Hunter (Haley Bennet), a housewife who develops a need to eat the household items that surround her. Here, we have the bones of a film ready to go…but good luck guessing where this actually goes. 

That mystery isn’t part of the first act of the movie. For about thirty minutes, Swallow treads in familiar territory, introducing elements of the story, creating an arc and then ending it. This part of the story is, unfortunately, the most languid because a lot of it doesn’t feel new. The austere production design feels done before, the exploration of housewife angst feels done before and the dialogue most certainly feels done before. This act does have some wonderful touches though. It’s handsome and well shot. In wordless scenes, Bennet has the chance to really shine bringing a satisfaction to the compulsive behavior that feels quite real. It’s not enough to make it feel like active storytelling though. 

That’s where the next part of the movie comes in. Where most films would end their second act, Swallow is just beginning it. It’s a nice reversal, as the plot reveals itself to be more about dealing with harmful behavior than about the behavior itself, and what’s more? The characters actually start to actively engage with the plot. Structurally, there’s an imperfect edge to the rest of the film that nonetheless feels engaging because of its unpredictable energy. 

Not all is well and good though. While unpredictable may be more engaging, it isn’t always the route of least resistance. A certain plot point is introduced halfway into the film that suddenly sours the whole ordeal. While the thesis of the plot point doesn’t have much wrong with it (though it does wear somewhat problematic skin), the execution leaves much to be desired. The audience never gets a sense of Hunter’s goal moving into the film’s actual third act, crippling the power that the film’s climactic confrontation would hold. It’s close enough to working but doesn’t quite get there. 

Swallow delivers on all the gross thrills that are expected from its premise and even manages to transcend them, moving its plot beyond its premise in a way most films like this aren’t willing to. Unfortunately, in straying out into that unfamiliar territory, it doesn’t hold together as well as it should. 

3 out of 5 Stars