When Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes unleashed their micro masterpiece, “Safe,” in 1995, no one saw it coming. Their suburban nightmare was met with many polarizing reactions, but was eventually regarded by film connoisseurs as a feminist classic. Not only that, but the film was one of the great allegorical treatises on the AIDS epidemic. Writer-director Carlo Mirabella-Davis wants to make a similar statement of female isolation in his upsetting and, unusually, disappointing film, “Swallow.” The film features a stunning central performance from Haley Bennett as Hunter, which makes the whole thing somewhat watchable, but this SXSW-premiered indie, which generated walkouts during last year’s fest, is shallow and uninvolving. Centered around a pregnant housewife (Bennett) who develops a passion for consuming inedible objects, the fascinating premise falls well short of expectations on-screen. We get it, Hunter clearly suffers from inner-anxiety, depression and a clear sense of isolation from marrying her breadwinner husband, Richie (Austin Stowell), and living in a giant home her in-laws (Elizabeth Marvel and David 'Rasche) purchased for them. It’s all filmed in the extreme with interior shots meant to bring a sense of claustrophobia to the viewer. Instead, even though we empathize with this marble-swallowing housewife, her fate turns fairly predictable as husband and family react to this revelation by, no shit, tightening their control over Hunter. One wonders why such a story is even being told — despite the highly unusual actions of Hunter, nothing new is being revealed to us in “Swallow,” it feels stilted rather than revelatory. [C]
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