The film When the Bough Breaks (2016) is a psychological thriller that builds up a feeling of tension before moving into a darker area of obsession and the lapses of trust in an otherwise ideal family. The movie focuses on John and Laura Taylor, who are a married couple that is in dire need of a child after a long period of infertility. When they decide to employ a surrogate, Anna, the situation starts to unfold in a nightmarish sequence where Anna develops an infatuation with John into frightening obsession. The word fixation is about to ruin all that the Taylors value as Anna her mental stability is going down the drain. The movie artfully creates suspense by the chilling scenes of manipulations and the use of violence and makes the viewers feel their fear as Anna loses her grip in her psychosis. Their plight is visceral and captivating since the fight of the couple to save their future and sanity is the emotional center of the story.
The film has a tense mood that is held together by the performances of Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall, who play their roles in a subtle manner, as a couple at their breaking point. The role of Anna by Jaz Sinclair is unsettlingly persuasive, alternating between frailty and danger that increases the discomforting mood of the movie. The direction successfully utilizes suspenseful rhythm, close shots, and an atmosphere of claustrophobia and paranoia through a moody color scheme. The screenplay is full of scenes of silent fear and sudden outbursts of violence that keep the viewers tense. The twists and turns of the plot are very interesting, and it can be said that the plot turns into the cliches of the thriller, but it is the emotional stakes that make the film so high.
The most frequent note is the investigation of the way in which obsession may be used to warp reality and endanger the lives of the innocent. The way the movie depicts the psychological breakdown of Anna is disturbing and, consequently, saddening, causing a viewers to sympathize with the shattered mind of this character. It also highlights the horrifying concept that even the people who we can trust the most can turn into unpredictable and dangerous. The impression of unease that comes with the end of When the Bough Breaks is of the norm of things that is so shallow and how obsession is devastating. It is a chilling tale of the role of trust, and how it can hurt the heart so easily when a person is gripped by obsession.
