Today’s Prayer Focus
When the Bough Breaks
also known as “The Birth Mother,” “Within,” “Kada se grana slomi,” “Kada se Grana Slomi”
MPA Rating:
for violence, sexuality/partial nudity, thematic elements, some disturbing images, and language.
for violence, sexuality/partial nudity, thematic elements, some disturbing images, and language.
| Moral Rating: | not reviewed |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | Psychological Mystery Thriller |
| Length: | 1 hr. 47 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2016 |
| USA Release: |
September 9, 2016 (wide—2,246 theaters) DVD: December 27, 2016 |
Relevant Issues
surrogate mothers
secrets
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| Featuring |
Morris Chestnut … John Taylor Regina Hall … Laura Taylor Romany Malco … Todd Decker Michael Kenneth Williams (Michael K. Williams) … Roland White Glenn Morshower … Martin Cooper Theo Rossi … Mike Mitchell Jaz Sinclair … Anna Walsh GiGi Erneta … Dr. Grace Park Tom Nowicki … Peter Kaye See all » |
| Director | Jon Cassar — “24,” “The Kennedys” |
| Producer |
Screen Gems Unique Feature |
| Distributor |
 Screen Gems, a division of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment |
“She’s carrying more than just a secret.”
Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “John and Laura Taylor (Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall) are a young, professional couple who desperately want a baby. After exhausting all other options, they finally hire Anna (Jaz Sinclair), the perfect woman to be their surrogate—but, as she gets further along in her pregnancy, so too does her psychotic and dangerous fixation on the husband. The couple becomes caught up in Anna's deadly game and must fight to regain control of their future before it's too late.
Director Cassar is best known for his work on the TV series “24.”
Movie Critics
…What’s good about the film is the acting—for the most part. …the pacing of the film is good and it feels polished… [D+]
Stephanie Tames, Citizen-Times
…serviceable domestic thriller that’s not quite the well-oiled machine that it could be. …light on logic, credibility…
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
…looks for suspense in a genre that has little left… Surrogate-pregnancy thriller doesn’t deliver…
Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times
… a predictable path through a formulaic scenario… comes across as a Lifetime cable movie… isn’t entirely bereft of surprises. …
Joe Leydon, Variety
…Getting down and dirty for the sake of the (unborn) children. …lazily written and generically directed…
Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter
…predictable, morally problematic melodrama… strong violence, lewd content…
Ted Baehr, Movieguide
…tries to tie the head and heart in ethical knots… paints a nasty, bloody, worst-case-scenario picture of what can (theoretically) happen when using a surrogate to have a baby goes really, really wrong. … [1½/5]
Adam R. Holz, Plugged In
…paints a nasty, bloody, worst-case-scenario picture of what can (theoretically) happen when using a surrogate to have a baby goes really, really wrong. …[1½/5]
Adam R. Holz, Plugged In
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