Parents' Guide to False Positive

It's a slow-burn suspense paired with satirical commentary on how women and pregnancy are treated in society. But any tension that False Positive creates doesn't really pay off, and the insertion of occasional heavy-handed analysis on how the patriarchy (fertility doctors, husbands) has encroached, gaslighted, and mansplained the miracle of childbirth for women results in a mess of a movie. While many of the arguments raised in the film are worthy of discussion, so much of it comes off as self-indulgent that it begins to feel like it's the audience getting an ultrasound wand shoved down its throat instead of one of the nurses in a later scene.

These shortcomings increase as the movie goes on. In case the condescension from her husband and fertility doctor -- and talk of "mommy brain" from everyone else -- wasn't enough to make the point, Lucy's male co-workers are there to make sure you really, really get it, by making her the lunch go-getter, despite her career success. There's also a scene that confronts Lucy's White privilege that, while valid, comes off as shoehorned in at the expense of side stories that aren't fully explored. What's more, the payoff as the mysteries are revealed isn't that surprising, and the attempts at dark humor don't really inspire amusement. Nor does it add to the creepy vibe the movie seems to want to aspire to. What's left is a movie that should be much better than it actually is, considering the talent involved and the themes explored.