Swallow Dvd

Swallow is a 2019 psychological thriller film written and directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis, in his directorial debut, and starring Haley Bennett, Austin Stowell, Elizabeth Marvel, David Rasche, and Denis O’Hare. Its plot follows a young woman who, emotionally stifled in her marriage and domestic life, develops an impulse to consume inedible objects.

The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 28, 2019. It was released in France on January 15, 2020 by UFO Distribution, and in the United States on March 6, 2020 by IFC Films.

Plot

Hunter, a young woman from a lower working-class family in upstate New York has recently married Richie, a man from a wealthy family who is set to take over as CEO of his father’s Manhattan corporation. This affords Hunter, once an aspiring illustrator, the ability to stay at home in the couple’s lavish upstate home on the Hudson River. Despite this, Hunter finds herself increasingly emotionally stifled and isolated in both her marriage and domestic life, and finds Richie distant and inconsiderate toward her. One day while home alone, Hunter develops the impulse to eat a marble, and musters the courage to do so. She finds it exhilarating, and begins to consume other inedible objects around the house, including thumbtacks, metal figurines, and batteries. Each item she swallows, once digested, she meticulously cleans and arranges on her vanity.

After Hunter finds out she is pregnant, she and Richie visit the hospital for a routine ultrasound, during which the technician notices an anomaly in Hunter’s abdomen. She is rushed in for emergency surgery to remove a variety of objects trapped in her intestine. After the surgery, Hunter is diagnosed with pica, a psychological disorder that compels individuals to eat inedible objects. Richie’s parents, Katherine and Michael, arrange for her to see a psychiatrist in the city. During her therapy sessions, Hunter slowly divulges her attraction to consuming the objects, which she says is mainly because of the feel of their textures in her mouth.

At the behest of his parents, Richie hires Luay, a family friend and immigrant from Syria, to monitor Hunter while Richie is at work during the day. Hunter, feeling increasingly smothered, is initially hostile toward Luay, who dismisses her mental illness as resulting from her privileged life. Despite the others’ efforts to stop it, Hunter continues to covertly consume objects. Through her continued therapy sessions, she eventually reveals that she was not raised by her biological father and in fact has never met him, though she knows his name and keeps a picture of him in her wallet. She tells her psychiatrist that she was conceived as a result of her mother’s rape at the hands of a strange man whom she had met in a bar. The rapist was caught and served time in prison for the crime. When her doctor asks if Hunter’s mother ever considered terminating the pregnancy, she explains that her mother is very religious and does not believe in abortion even in cases of incest or rape.

While gardening one afternoon, Hunter overhears Richie speaking with her psychiatrist on the phone, and realizes that Richie has financially bribed the doctor to reveal the content of her sessions with Hunter. This sends Hunter into a panic, and when Richie leaves the house, she swallows a miniature screwdriver that she finds in the kitchen. Luay finds her choking violently, and phones 9-1-1. After undergoing surgery to remove the screwdriver, Michael and Katherine arrange to have Hunter committed to a psychiatric hospital for the next seven months until she delivers her baby, threatening that Richie will divorce her otherwise. Hunter agrees, but before they are to leave for the hospital, Hunter returns inside with Luay, saying that she has forgotten her cell-phone charger. Luay, who has warmed to Hunter, allows her to flee into the woods, and stages it to appear as though she had covertly escaped through the bathroom window.

Hunter hitchhikes to a motel and calls Richie, who begs her to return. She explains to him that she had rushed into their marriage and her pregnancy to make him happy. When she refuses to come back, he chastises her for being an “ungrateful cunt.” Hunter smashes her cell phone and spends the rest of the night watching television and eating soil that she obtained from outside. The next day, Hunter hitchhikes to the home of her biological father, a man named William Erwin. She enters his home, where William and his wife Lucy are having a birthday party for their daughter. They assume Hunter is the parent of one of their daughter’s friends, but Hunter privately reveals her true identity to William. During an emotional conversation, William professes his shame for the rape of Hunter’s mother. Hunter asks him if he is ashamed of her and whether she is like him, which he denies.

Having obtained closure from her visit with William, Hunter visits a clinic and is prescribed medication to induce an abortion. She takes the pills while eating lunch in a shopping mall food court and experiences the abortion in a public restroom.

Cast

Haley Bennett as Hunter Conrad
Austin Stowell as Richie Conrad
Elizabeth Marvel as Katherine Conrad
David Rasche as Michael Conrad
Denis O’Hare as William Erwin
Lauren Vélez as Lucy
Zabryna Guevara as Alice
Laith Nakli as Luay
Babak Tafti as Aaron
Nicole Kang as Bev