Haley Bennett shines in “Swallow” — a disturbing but mesmerizing portrayal of mental health, obsession, and the struggle to regain control.
Show host Carolyn Smith-Hillmer takes a deep dive into Swallow, a beautifully executed, women-driven body horror/psychological horror film that adeptly addresses multiple complex themes, including intrusive thoughts, female bodily autonomy, loss of control, the horrors of isolation, and mental health. Uncompromising, disturbing, and thought-provoking, there’s a good reason this was one of the most buzzed-about and critically celebrated genre films of 2019. – Stephanie (Editor-in-Chief)
SHOW NOTES FROM HOST CAROLYN SMITH-HILLMER:
Sit down with your favorite drink and listen in as I discuss the complexities of pregnancy, Pica Disorder, and control.
Swallow is a 2019 psychological thriller film written and directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis and starring Haley Bennett. Its plot follows a young woman who, emotionally stifled in her marriage and domestic life, develops an impulse to consume inedible objects.
Writer-director Carlo Mirabella-Davis drew inspiration for the story from his grandmother’s obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Swallow follows a pregnant housewife who develops the disorder pica, which causes her to ingest inanimate objects.
Mirabella-Davis stated that his grandmother developed various rituals of control due to her unhappy marriage and the increasing sense of powerlessness in her life. She was eventually placed in a mental institution, where she received treatments such as electroshock therapy, insulin shock therapy, and a non-consensual lobotomy.
Mirabella-Davis wanted to make a film about his grandmother’s experience, but he realized that hand washing, her primary OCD symptom, was not very cinematic. Instead, he chose to focus on pica and explore the attraction of people with this disorder to ingesting objects.
The film was widely praised by critics, who recognized the film’s strong script and outstanding performance from lead actress Haley Bennett (Cyrano).
SOURCES/INFORMATION
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8372298/
Black Box Diaries: https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/6569ff92fac9f427abc03c60
Realm of Satan: https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/656a08effac9f4692bc048d2
Little Death: https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/656a08dafac9f40bb2c048a3
Pica Disorder Information: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22944-pica
ABOUT THE SHOW:
The Final Girl on 6th Ave is a weekly show where host, Carolyn Smith-Hillmer, dissects an arthouse/elevated horror film. Each episode includes a detailed play-by-play of the film itself and a subsequent deep dive into the thematic elements and symbolism. Because elevated horror is sometimes viewed within the horror community as pretentious, Carolyn makes sure to use her down-to-earth tone and unique perspective to make these films less intimidating for the casual horror viewer and less ostentatious for the genre lover.
Listen to more episodes on the show’s website here.
The Final Girl on 6th Ave is a bi-weekly podcast where host Carolyn Smith-Hillmer reviews arthouse horror films in a non-pretentious way.
Lars von Tier and Horror
Lars von Trier has been called a visionary, a sadist, and a self‑mythologizing provocateur—sometimes all in the same breath. In this episode, we unpack how an anxious kid from Copenhagen became one of the most controversial figures in world cinema, and why his work looms so large over modern horror and “extreme” art‑film. Focusing on Antichrist, Melancholia, Nymphomaniac, and The House That Jack Built, we explore von Trier’s “Depression Trilogy,” his use of grief, sex, and violence, and the ongoing debates about misogyny, ethics, and audience complicity. Along the way, we bring in film scholarship, critical essays, and production histories to ask a simple but uncomfortable question: when von Trier pushes horror this far, is he revealing something profound about suffering—or just building a house out of pain?
SOURCES/INFORMATION
Biographical and career overviews
“Lars von Trier.” Wikipedia.wikipedia
“Lars von Trier – Simple English Wikipedia.” Simple Wikipedia.wikipedia
“Lars von Trier.” Encyclopaedia Britannica (biography, awards, filmography).britannica
“Lars von Trier filmography.” Wikipedia.wikipedia
“Lars von Trier – IMDb.” IMDb.imdb
“List of awards and nominations received by Lars von Trier.” Wikipedia.wikipedia
Context and Danish film culture
“Lars von Trier and Cultural Liberalism.” Danish Film Institute.dfi
Excerpt from Regional and Global Dimensions of Danish Film Culture and Film Policy (on Dogme 95 and Danish film branding).catalogimages.wiley
Critical profiles and interviews
“Lars von Trier: Behind the Curtain.” The New Yorker (profile on von Trier’s persona and controversies).mubi+1
“Lars von Trier: A Problematic Sort of Ladies’ Man?” NPR radio piece and transcript (Pat Dowell, with Caroline Bainbridge).npr+1
“The Many Faces of Lars von Trier.” BFI feature.bfi
“Lars von Trier: An Overview.” Film Festival Today (career overview).filmfestivaltoday
Horror‑specific and film‑specific sources
“The Immersive Examination of Depression and Grief in ‘Antichrist’ [Unveiling the Mind].” Bloody Disgusting.bloody-disgusting+1
“Antichrist (2009)” – film entry and production details. IMDb and Wikipedia.imdb+1
“The House That Jack Built (2018).” IMDb (plot, reception).imdb
“Manically Macabre: Lars von Trier as Horror Icon.” Horror Obsessive.horrorobsessive
“‘Terrifier 2’ and 9 Other Horror Movies Which Famously Made Audiences Sick.” Collider (section on Antichrist).collider
Scholarly / analytical work
“Lars von Trier – The ‘Sex’pression Ideology.” Academic essay (via Academia.edu PDF).academia
Caroline Bainbridge, The Cinema of Lars von Trier (discussed in NPR and academic contexts).npr+1
Career primers
“Notebook Primer: Lars von Trier.” MUBI Notebook.
Episode play icon
Lars von Trier has been called a visionary, a sadist, and a self‑mythologizing provocateur—sometimes all in the same breath. In this episode, we unpack how [...]
May 1, 2026
Episode play icon
In this episode, we explore why we willingly scare ourselves — unpacking the neuroscience of fear, the psychology of personality and anxiety, and the surprising [...]
March 1, 2026
Episode play icon
The Final Girl looks a little different for 2026… in the best way! Join in for the first episode of 2026 where we uncover what [...]
January 21, 2026
Search Results placeholder
Follow Us!