Goody Goody
Jayson Freeman loves his wife, but he also knows the strength of her will: “That’s Goody, she does things her own way.” Pregnant with their first child, “doing things her way” involved immediate bonding with prospective midwife Sarah then pressuring her into accepting Goody’s vision of how it will unfold without compromise, a water birth, itself not unusual, except that they live in a remote cabin in the woods miles from medical facilities and the due date is the middle of winter.
Sarah capitulating out of fear that Goody will persist without the experienced supervision and support she can offer, in the dark house under a snowstorm they gather, contractions regular and progressing when concerns begin to manifest, Goody’s labour regressing and a power failure cutting off the lights and the telephone, the decision made to go to the hospital with expedience but Jayson vanishing into the trees when he goes out to warm the car.
Written and directed by Raymond Creamer who also has a small cameo, Goody Goody is a film of two halves, the first a straight drama, and a tedious one at that, which can be read as a tirade against the ignorance of the anti-vaxxer movement and its associated behaviours, sound medical advice roundly dismissed because mama doesn’t want to do it that way, her son to be born into the warm safety of a loving home rather than a clinical environment.
Sarah (Colleen Foy) trying to keep her temper and composure as the situation deteriorates, carefully phrasing her already warned concerns to Jayson (Colby Hollman) in just the right way so that he might actually hear what she is saying, birth assistant Candace (Zoe Renee) one step up from useless (is she a medical professional? a relative? a total rando?), urgency is out of the question despite it being made clear that every minute counts in an emergency.
The film pivoting midway into supernatural horror where there was no previous indication or foreshadowing in atmosphere other than Goody’s habit of feeding the wild deer of the forest, something never picked up again, Goody Goody suffers from a split personality, the second manifestation more interesting but built on a hollow foundation with no clear path out of the woods and carrying the weight of the absurdity already established.
Samantha Robinson giving a performance which could not be more different from The Love Witch, lying back in the warm waters of the strange place Goody Goody demonstrates what might have been too late, any patience with deep feelings and new age aspirations trumping proper preparations long exhausted as the finale is dragged out, a difficult labour where the ambiguous outcome doesn’t warrant the time, effort and blood.
Goody Goody will be streaming on Shudder from Friday 18th September
