Reel Review: The Beldham (2024)

“The Beldham” is a haunting exploration of maternal fears that takes you on a terrifying journey to a destination you’ll never expect.

The haunting maternal horror The Beldham begins with a definition:

Beldham (n.) Archaic. An old woman. In folklore, a bird-like crone who feeds on the souls of infants. A witch.

We then pan across a darkened nursery at night. A shadowed figure stands in front of a window. Soon, there’s a subtle but chilling reveal, gorgeously framed and shot to maximize the eerie effect. The screen fades to black. As we get the opening credits, a blood-curdling scream is heard in the background.

Cut to a new mother, Harper (Katie Parker; The Haunting of Hill House), in a car with an older man. They’re heading toward the home of Harper’s mother, Sadie (Patricia Heaton). The man is Frank (Corbin Bernsen), Sadie’s live-in boyfriend. The home is a once-glorious fixer-upper estate Sadie bought to flip.

Harper thinks she’s been invited to help Sadie prepare the home for resell. Yet, it soon becomes clear that Sadie had ulterior motives for the extended stay invitation.

Through a slow reveal, we learn that Harper is in a fragile mental state, and Sadie wants to keep an eye on her and the new baby to make sure they are both safe. To help her is a live-in nurse, Bette (Emma Fitzpatrick; The Collection, The Social Network), whom Harper quickly befriends—much to the chagrin of Sadie.

As tensions escalate between the frequently cold and distant mother and the slowly unraveling daughter, Harper begins to fear an ominous supernatural presence lurking in the home, threatening the safety of her baby and her own sanity.

Written and directed by Angela Gulner, this women-driving film is a potent meditation on the fears and heartbreak of motherhood.

It also illuminates the substantial but sometimes agonizing relationship between mothers and daughters.

The Beldham delivers ample psychological tension while exploring the relatable, real-world terror of trying to keep a loved one safe. There’s nothing more horrifying than knowing you’re powerless to stop the inevitable—whether it’s the pain of life you hope to protect a child from, the devastation of mental illness, or simply unpredictability in a world fraught with danger.

You don’t need otherworldly evil to make motherhood terrifying, but it helps elevate the stakes, drenching every moment in foreboding dread.

However, with Harper’s issue of mental illness, it’s unclear what’s real or simply a byproduct of her delusions. Perhaps she’s simply spiraling out of control, which is horrifying to imagine. Or perhaps she’s enduring a very real threat that no one believes—a far more frightening prospect.

As her fear mounts, Harper is forced to stay in the home or risk losing her child.

The home becomes her prison, keeping her isolated and vulnerable. To protect her child, she must sacrifice herself, enduring the pervasive threat of some lurking menace and the shameful scorn of her mother.

It’s a film steeped in atmosphere that makes something rather innocuous, the pervasive presence of birds, feel positively nightmarish.

Technically, the film delivers the goods with a wonderfully eerie sound design and breathtaking, often claustrophobic cinematography that makes the viewer feel as trapped and helpless as Harper.

The trio of women at the story’s center truly shine, with Parker delivering a heartbreaking performance as a desperate young mother torn apart by internal and external forces. Heaton is a force of nature, often delivering the kind of ferocity that can be chilling at times but still delivering aching vulnerability when the script calls for it. Parker and Fitzpatrick have an easy, natural chemistry that makes their budding friendship believable and compelling.

You don’t have to be a mother to appreciate The Beldham in all its gut-wrenching glory, but it certainly helps.

The themes will no doubt resonate with those who understand what it’s like to face the exquisite joy and undeniable fear of motherhood in a world that doesn’t offer much support or sympathy for those who struggle with the weight of that responsibility or who wrestle with their ability to keep the darkness at bay.

But this isn’t just a film for mothers. It’s a film for daughters, too. It deftly explores that complex, powerful bond between a mother and daughter characterized by a deep emotional connection and often difficult dynamic.

A strong ending adds surprising emotional depth and elevates the film’s themes of love, loss, sacrifice, and the unbreakable ties that bind.

The constant caws of blackbirds populate the film, akin to whispers in the dark, threatening to reveal a secret that will shake the very foundation of this home and its haunted inhabitants. Once that secret is revealed, it changes everything, recontextualizing The Beldham in a powerful new light and making you rethink everything you’ve seen.

It’s an exquisite payoff that handsomely rewards your patience and makes every meticulously crafted piece of the puzzle fall perfectly into place.