By Jacob Cameron

Goody Goody is a new horror from Shudder about the dangers of childbirth and cabins in woods. A young couple is trying to bring their first child into the world with the help of a midwife. All while a blizzard has them snowed into a cabin; and nothing goes right.

Good Goody was directed by Raymond Creamer and starred Samantha Robinson, Colleen Foy, Zoe Renee, and Colby Hollman. It tells the story of Goody and Jayson, played by Robinson and Hollman, who enlist the services of a midwife named Sarah to help them with a home birth. The birth is to take place at the couple’s secluded cabin in the woods. Sarah is not a fan of this idea; preferring that the birth take place at her home which is close to a hospital. However, Sarah agrees to the birth and finds herself in way over her head.

The biggest compliment that could be paid to this film is the atmosphere. The cabin in the woods is a classic horror setting that has been riffed on countless times. But the fact these people are snowed in, combined with the fact that this home birth is already a tense situation, makes for a tense atmosphere. Colleen Foy gives the best performance and has the most character development. Her character has consistently bad feelings about everything revolving around this birth. But she takes on the job out of a sense of duty and responsibility.

The movie suffers from its short runtime; the runtime being 80 minutes long. Because the movie is so short, there are no plot points that really get a chance to breathe. As mentioned, Sarah is the only character that feels like any development is given. Goody and Jayson are almost afterthoughts in terms of character development. Outside of the fact that they are married and that they are trying to pull off a home birth, that’s all the plot points that are brought about. Then there’s Candace, played by Zoe Renee, who is given next to nothing to do.

The ending, without giving anything away, feels like the ending of a different movie. With no real buildup to what actually happens. Interlaced with these dream-type sequences that are quite jarring. One sequence in particular was seemingly meant to be more symbolic of what the movie was trying to convey. However, in a vacuum, the sequence is borderline meaningless and absurd. And nothing is followed up on because nothing was truly established in the plot.

At the end of the day, this was a horror film that felt quite undercooked. This would have benefited from a little bit more in the runtime department. It would’ve allowed for something with more substance to develop in the plot. Subtle or slow-burn horror can be quite effective. But there needs to be something happening or the promise of something happening in order to make it work. Very rarely, if ever, does something interesting happen in this film.

🌟 star