It’s really interesting that, in, like, the last six years, “write, produce or direct a horror film” has become a natural second-act pivot for comedians in need of a new hook. Sure, there are plenty of compelling intellectual reasons why — horror, after all, is a close relative of comedy — but we’ve got to think that there are some more pragmatic reasons, too. The return-on-investment for horror’s pretty damn good (that’s why Ari Aster makes them — they’re easier to get financing for), and it helps that plenty of other comedian-filmmakers have found success, both financial and critical, in the genre. Anyway, until mid-budget comedies begin raking in the dough again, we’ll get more projects like Ilana Glazer’s False Positive, an A24-produced, Hulu-distributed horror flick about what happens when a former Bond is your fertility doctor. The streamer dropped a trailer for the film on Wednesday, and you know what? It looks like a good time.
Take a look:
Here’s a synopsis:
“After months of trying and failing to get pregnant, Lucy (Ilana Glazer) and Adrian (Justin Theroux) finally find their dream fertility doctor in the illustrious Dr. Hindle (Pierce Brosnan). But after becoming pregnant with a healthy baby girl, Lucy begins to notice something sinister through Hindle’s gleaming charm, and she sets out to uncover the unsettling truth about him, and her own “birth story.” As if getting pregnant weren’t complicated enough… False Positive is directed by John Lee, written by Ilana Glazer and John Lee, and produced by Ilana Glazer, John Lee, and Jonathan Wang. The film stars Ilana Glazer, Justin Theroux, Pierce Brosnan, Sophia Bush and Gretchen Mol. A24 serves as the studio.”
False Positive hits Hulu on June 25. Honestly it’d be rad if a critic who hated this movie started out their review with a bunch of praise and then panned it in the last paragraph. How’s that for a false positive?