"Swedish actress Noomi Rapace (Prometheus, Sherlock Holmes)
is certainly getting around a bit these days, and despite a move to all things
Hollywood, it was her captivating breakout in the ‘Millennium Series’ trilogy
that people will remember her for. Two years after she made a permanent
impression as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Rapace
took on the role of Anna, in Pål Sletaune’s Norwegian thriller, Babycall.
Anna is a single mother given state protection following an
abusive relationship. Terrified her ex will come back to find her and their
son, Anders, she buys a baby monitor to keep track of him. In a scenario
straight out of the latest Scandinavian horror movie, the monitor starts to
pick up distressed noises from a child in another apartment and an innocent
drawing by her son appears on the fridge stained with blood. Anna has trouble
remembering things at the best of times, so how can we be sure that she’s the
good guy? What’s more, how much is real and how much of it is playing out
inside Anna’s fragile mind?
Noomi Rapace provides Babycall with another exceptional
performance, bringing genuine vulnerability to the role of Anna. Most of the
characters are socially inept and awkward, giving the film an edgy quality that
creates unease at every turn. Kristoffer Joner is another standout as potential
boyfriend Helge - his twitchy, mild mannered persona is both endearing and
infectious in equal measures. Babycall is a real slow burner but no less enjoyable
for it. With gripping performances, absorbing - if not entirely accessible -
plot twists and a sprinkling of terror, Babycall manages to get under your skin
in the subtlest of ways.
The trailer may have put more emphasis on horror, but
Babycall is in fact an engrossing psychological thriller that demands your
attention despite overcooking the red herrings. Rapace is the glue that binds,
injecting genuine peril into a role that covers over the cracks of an over
familiar finale. Definitely worth a look." AW
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