Review: Swallow (2020), a Film About Pica ★★★

Until I saw the trailer for Carlo Mirabella-Davis’s horror-thriller, Swallow (2020), I had never heard of the Pica Disorder. For the uninitiated, Pica is a psychological condition in which a person has an appetite for non-nutritive objects. I myself enjoy chewing on ice (much to the dismay of my dentist), which technically qualifies as a mild and very common subsect of the disorder known as pagophagia. However, the disorder becomes dangerous when an individual is compelled to consume unsanitary or harmful objects like dirt, rocks, metal, or sharp objects. This is the dilemma in which the heroine of Swallow finds herself.

At first glance, Swallow (2020) is just a movie about Pica. The story follows Hunter (Haley Bennett), a soft-spoken newlywed adjusting to a life of luxury with her new husband, Richie (Austin Stowell). Though they live in a swanky house and have a seemingly perfect life, Hunter feels dissatisfied as a housewife. When Hunter learns that she’s pregnant, Richie’s parents take an increased interest in her as the soon-to-be-mother of their first grandchild.

However, Hunter’s disanimation manifests itself into an obsession with eating foreign objects. It begins innocently enough with a piece of ice, but quickly evolves to something far more dangerous. When she first eats (and eventually passes) a marble, she proudly displays it on her nightstand. Soon, she has a long line of objects, including a coin, a thumbtack, and a small, porcelain figurine.

As her condition becomes more dangerous, it also becomes much harder to hide. When Hunter attempts to swallow a sharp object, she is rushed to the hospital, where doctors empty her stomach of all of the undigestable items she has swallowed. At first, Richie is angry that she would put herself and the baby’s life and danger. However, he attempts to show compassion and take Hunter on her word that she won’t do it again.

Needless to say, Hunter doesn’t follow through with her promise. Soon, Richie’s parents intervene, insisting that Hunter goes to therapy to get medicated. They also hire a male nurse to watch over her while Ritchie is away at work. Though Hunter doesn’t have a clear answer to most of her therapist’s questions about her condition, she eventually opens up about the fact that she was the result of her mother being raped.

Revealing this long-kept secret helps Hunter connect with her therapist and moves her one step closer to recovery. Unfortunately, she overhears a phone call in which her therapist reluctantly feeds this information to Ritchie. As her relationship with Ritchie begins to crumble, Hunter struggles to keep her sanity and resist her dangerous urges.

Though I won’t reveal the ending of the film, I will say that I felt shortchanged with the direction in which director Carlo Mirabella-Davis takes the story. As previously stated, Swallow appears to be a film about Pica. The condition is the foundation on which the rest of the story is built. However, rather than making a straightforward “body horror” film about a psychological condition, Mirabella-Davis takes things in a very different direction.

Ultimately, Swallow is a film about a woman attempting to overcome trauma and find her own voice. While this sounds admirable enough, it is done in a rather cheap and lazy way. At the risk of giving away too much, I will say that the story essentially blames her condition and her inability to escape a toxic marriage on the trauma of being born out of rape.

More often than not, when a film attempts to explain the underlying causes of a psychological condition, it misses the target entirely. Like any mental disorder, Pica is complex. There’s no “easy fix” or simple explanation. Unfortunately, Swallow makes it seem as though a complicated disorder like Pica can be explained away by Hunter’s feelings of shame and anger at her mother’s rapist. 

While I have my issues with the final act, the film is relatively well-made. Katelin Arizmendi deserves the most praise for the film’s gorgeous cinematography, which helps illustrate the life of a “1950’s style housewife” in the modern-day. Close-up shots of Hunter’s peculiar eating habits will cause more squeamish viewers to look away in disgust, while wide shots of the family’s large, multi-million dollar property help amplify Hunter’s isolation. 

Sadly, the acting and writing don’t keep up with the visuals. Some intense emotional moments fall short due to unrealistic delivery, while some of the characters’ behavior simply appears unnatural. The latter issue might have been intentional. After all, a slow-burning psychological horror/thriller like Swallow necessitates a certain degree of “weirdness.” However, it comes across as lackluster directing and, in many cases, subpar acting.

That said, I’m extremely glad that body horror is returning to the mainstream, but Swallow doesn’t always live up to the expectations of its parent genre. One could argue that Swallow is more of a mildly-gruesome thriller, in which case it checks all the boxes. However, the marketing for the film makes it seem like a gut-wrenching (pun intended) body horror that pulls no punches. Horror fans expecting this will surely feel disappointed. 

For example, my wife has a hard time watching gory horror films with me. She hates blood and doesn’t see the appeal of feeling grossed-out. In short, she’s pretty squeamish when it comes to blood and guts. Nonetheless, she was just as intrigued by the film as I was, so she endeavored to get through it. 

By the time the credits rolled, she enjoyed it much more than expected. Why? Because it simply wasn’t that gory or horrific. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Much of the “horror” comes from the implications of Hunter’s actions. As a viewer, you can imagine the pain she’s enduring as sharp objects make their way through her digestive tract. Though it’s effective at making viewers uncomfortable, it’s not particularly horrific.

Having said all that, Swallow is certainly not a bad film. Some people will find the ending uplifting, even to the point of making Swallow (2020) a new classic of feminist cinema. This, combined with the unique plot and visuals, make it well worth your time. However, I found that the overly simplistic psychoanalysis and weak performances kept the film from reaching its full potential. 

Rating: ★★★ out of 5

If you’d like to watch Swallow (2020), the film is currently available to rent or purchase via Amazon. For more film reviews like this one, be sure to check out the Philosophy in Film Homepage!