My quick rating – 4.9/10. The Beldham sets out to be another slow-burn psychological horror about motherhood and the fear of losing yourself after childbirth. Harper (Katie Parker), teetering on the edge of postpartum psychosis, moves into her mother, Sadie’s, rural farmhouse with her newborn. Sadie (Patricia Heaton) is already living there with her new boyfriend Frank (Corbin Bernsen), and before long Harper begins to suspect that a malevolent presence – a “Beldham,” defined early on as a medieval witch who steals babies’ souls – has its sights set on her child. Unfortunately, while the ingredients are promising, the execution is a frustrating mess.
The tension is established right from the beginning of the film, but it is never clear what director Angela Gulner wanted to do with it. Scenes seem disconnected, motivations are unclear, and character reactions are often baffling. There is a sense of disconnection throughout, as if the film were assembled from several drafts. While some of this is presumably intended to make sense in light of the big twist, and yes, there is a twist, there is a great deal of it that simply does not make sense, whether or not it is supposed to.
One scene in particular had me questioning reality, and not in the way the movie intends. Harper suddenly attempts to breastfeed her baby during an open house, in front of a room full of strangers. There is no buildup, no payoff, and no relation to anything else in the movie. It just… happens. Moments like this pop up repeatedly, undercutting any chance I was getting into this flick. Add in things like wandering around with a candle when there’s clearly a flashlight or light switch nearby, and the tension starts slipping into unintentional comedy.
That’s a shame, because some elements genuinely work. The ominous birds, the creeping folklore surrounding the witch, and Sadie’s increasingly shady behavior all generate solid unease. The witch itself is effectively creepy, and the farmhouse setting should have been a perfect pressure cooker. The problem is that the horror is so deep down under all the heavy drama that the film never allows itself to actually be scary. It moves towards the reveal at a glacial pace and then speeds through it when it gets there.
The acting is the film’s saving grace. Parker is convincing as a woman unraveling under impossible stress, and Heaton brings an unsettling edge that keeps you guessing. Without these performances, the film would collapse entirely. Still, everything ultimately exists in service of the twist, which lands rushed, flat, and oddly disconnected from the story that precedes it.
I can see the intended audience, especially mothers, connecting with the pervasive dread and fear of losing control. For me, though, the central “is she crazy or is the witch real?” question simply isn’t supported by enough compelling or coherent moments. And that ending? I didn’t buy it, emotionally or logically. I can’t say more without spoiling it, but I just don’t believe it works that way. In the end, The Beldham has atmosphere and ideas, but it never pulls them together into something satisfying.
