A week in the life of a troubled wife and mother comes to the fore in the new psychological horror THE SWERVE, which played at the London Frightfest Digital Edition back in August 2020.
Holly (Azura Skye) is the seemingly have-it-all working mother and wife. She has two energetic children and a loving store manager husband, Rob (Bruce Pinkham) at the outset, teaching good students and keeping it together. However, the world does have a few bad aces in the pack – and a mouse is keeping her up at night, which seemingly bites her hand when she is looking for her high heel when preparing to go out.
Her doctor is convinced she won’t catch rabies from the mouse and has recommended increasing her meds to combat bad insomnia, but her husband is not all that honest. In addition, her alcoholic sister Claudia (Ashley Bell) imposes on their lives and then reminds her during a family gathering of one past incident involving a pie she cooked and is determined to undermine her confidence when she comes to visit. Whilst the family watches TV laughing, Holly slips out and drives along an open country road, but there is a car pursuing her along the road who are determined to get their kicks from her.
However, Rob is not too happy with Holly’s progressive downward slide and the world seems to be contracting on her, forcing Holly to question her own sense of purpose, which she finds in one respect when she befriends one of her students, Paul (Zach Rand)….
Neither a traditional contemporary horror or designed as a combination of traditional family conflicts with the suburban context, writer/director Dean Kapsalis ensures that THE SWERVE is still a powerful mix of heightened performances with an analysis of a woman who never quite seems to have it together despite holding all the key attributes to make life work.
More of a slow-burner at times but this does work to its’ advantage as the concerns and tensions build, with subtle set-ups rather than hard-punching ones placed conveniently as they would be in the more mainstream horrors. Kapsalis has stated in press notes that the film is more about examining the backstories behind many contemporary American housewives, whom he got to know as a teenager whilst mowing the lawns of their houses in the neighbourhood he grew up in.
Skye is excellent in the lead role and it is not always straightforward capturing the psychological effects on camera, but much of the power of this film comes from the honesty and truth in the performances – and this is one of the best of the year.
