Ilana Glazer Thriller Holds a Scalpel to the Idea of ‘Mommy

John Lee’s socially perceptive horror thriller “False Positive” begins close to the tip of the story — with Ilana Glazer bloodied however unbowed — so it’s no spoiler to say that issues go very flawed very quick. But Lee rapidly rewinds to seemingly less complicated occasions, when Lucy (Glazer) and Adrian (Justin Theroux) are hoping to have a child. After two years of making an attempt, Lucy agrees to an appointment with Adrian’s former med-school professor, acclaimed reproductive endocrinologist John Hindle (Pierce Brosnan).

Dr. Hindle’s apply is so well-run that the initially reluctant Lucy is shocked: The workplace is soothing, his nurses are endlessly supportive, and the physician himself couldn’t be extra optimistic.

In reality, Lucy will get pregnant instantly, with triplets. Dr. Hindle explains that she should bear selective discount to guard both the dual boys or the only woman. Once she wakes up from the process he assures her it went properly — so why is she instantly noticing issues that make her uneasy?

At first, it’s simply small stuff. Adrian and Hindle, she realizes throughout her follow-up examination, are far chummier than she’d anticipated. Then there’s that odd run-in with Dr. Hindle’s antiseptic nurse (Gretchen Mol), who firmly steers her away from a midwife (Zainab Jah) selling pure childbirth.  And why is Corgan (Sophia Bush), a brand new pal from her being pregnant group, so visibly uncomfortable with Lucy’s burgeoning issues?

It doesn’t assist, both, that the remainder of Lucy’s life feels upended. Her mom died a couple of years earlier, and she or he has nobody in whom to confide. Meanwhile, her work is equally alienating; she’s the one lady at her boutique advert company, and it’s simply occurred to her that she’s additionally the one one chargeable for all people’s lunch orders.

Indeed, regardless of the darkish doings surrounding Lucy’s being pregnant, it’s the small observations that construct the cornerstone of the movie. Glazer wrote the script together with her “Broad City” collaborator Lee, and so they share a razor-sharp eye for the tiniest, most painful cuts.

Sure, Lucy’s husband shares a reputation with the demon spawn from “Rosemary’s Baby,” and she or he’s having an terrible lot of desires about drowning in blood. But the actual horrors are those many viewers will truly acknowledge. The benignly paternalistic physician who believes he is aware of extra about his affected person’s physique than she does, after which dismisses her as anxious or emotional when she pushes again. The husband who watches his spouse undergo all of IVF’s painful, demoralizing procedures, after which proudly broadcasts “We’re pregnant!” The family and friends members who subtly undercut a parenting alternative with the brightest of smiles. Or who apologize, as Adrian does, with an informal “I’m sorry if I made you feel bad.”

Lee and Glazer additionally pull again, so these particulars are just like the dots on a Georges Seurat portray. And the large image is fairly damning.  Lucy lives in a tradition that pushes ladies to try to have all of it, after which challenges them in the event that they do.  When the boys in her workplace take credit score for her work, she instinctually swallows her anger with a fast “You know what? It’s fine.” After absorbing one micro-aggression after one other, she fears she’s shedding her thoughts, solely to have her issues written off as hormonal.

Stage star Jah (“Boesman and Lena”) is frustratingly underused, as if the filmmakers weren’t positive fairly easy methods to outline her function. They additionally focus, totally, on the expertise of prosperous {couples} who don’t have to fret about points like healthcare entry or IVF expense.

But all of the actors are wonderful, with a transparent grasp on Lee and Glazer’s intentions. Brosnan completely embodies each overconfident knowledgeable who’s been handled like a god and has come to consider it. Mol and Bush are impeccably repellent of their characters’ wholehearted embrace of…