*THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS*
I love a good psychological thriller. Late night surfing the streaming channels, we settled on Abandoned with Emma Roberts and Michael Shannon. I hadn’t seen a preview or anything for the film, but I’m a fan of both actors (I mean, Emma Roberts in AHS and Michael Shannon in Boardwalk Empire, c’mon).
In the film, a young couple moves from the city into a house in the country. Emma Roberts’ character, Sara, struggles with postpartum depression and they think this move to the country is going to help her overcome it. They learn that there was a previous double murder / suicide in the house, but decide to go ahead with the purchase because they can afford the home and they don’t seem too concerned about it, oddly.
I can be pretty critical when it comes to movies, and my first thought was – umm, how is this going to make her postpartum better? Isolating herself from other human beings and moving to the country? Anyway… I held space for the fact that it was obviously set during a different time, though what year it is is a bit unclear throughout the film. It’s obvious in the fact that they don’t have cell phones, TVs, or other things that so many people use regularly these days.
Sara’s husband is out doing farm veterinary stuff all day and late into the night. Leaving her completely alone with their baby in this big, creepy house with essentially not much at all to do and little human interaction with the exception of her neighbor who is the survivor and brother of the girl who “haunts the home.”
Another example of the time period is when midway through the film, a male doctor who specializes in postpartum (umm what? That’s an oxymoron right there) comes to talk to Sara. He’s condescending and harsh with her.
Sara isn’t completely honest with him or husband. She only tells the neighbor about what she’s experiencing. And I can see why since this probably happened during a time when women were more likely to be institutionalized for their unhappiness around motherhood and family life than they were to be truly supported. It’s clear that she’s uncomfortable sharing with her husband and this doctor what she’s really experiencing.
The film progresses as Sara uncovers the disturbing details around the murders in the home.
It isn’t until she has a frightening run in with a couple child ghosts who compromise the safety of her own baby that she goes to defend her child and finally arrives at the place she’s been trying to reach – a place of connection and motherly love for her own offspring.
That morning, her husband comes home to well-rested and healthy looking Sara with breakfast made, sitting at the kitchen table. Seemingly over all her issues and ready to embrace her role as a homemaker. She looks at him and tells him something along the lines of “it’s over.” And he is obviously relieved.
Fast forward a few years, the family is laughing and just oh so happy together now (swoon). Their son has grown into a toddler. It seems they’ve overcome their problems (that all stemmed from Sara’s unhappiness and discontent – not his lack of support and absence). They’re outside swinging together, and the camera zooms out to show Sara, visibly pregnant again and looking fearfully back at the house.
Takeaways:
Abandoned leaves the viewer wondering, like Sara, was it really postpartum psychosis? Or was it truly a haunted house? Was it a combination of both?
It’s also hard to know if the relationship she has with the neighbor is founded in reality. Her husband does acknowledge the neighbor’s presence at the beginning of the movie, but it’s unclear if he was really there the other times. (Neighbor comes in during the scene where she’s meeting with the doctor, but it’s not confirmed if the doctor actually sees him).
Did Sara’s thoughts just manifest into a postpartum nightmare? Sara read the file of the murder given to her by their realtor and having her symptoms on top of being in almost total isolation, it seems possible. But also, maybe the house just really was haunted.
Then there’s the gender themes. With topics like gaslighting, gender inequities, and mental health, currently getting more action, it could be part of the reason why I’m noticing this more in films, on top of my own experience as a mother, wife, and woman.
Sara’s husband is largely unhelpful and dismissive. I almost died when she has a scary run in with the ghosts and she sets her baby down, unaware that the baby gate to the stairs is actually unlocked (it looks locked). She stares into the room with the ghosts as her baby nears the staircase.
Sara turns around at the last minute as her husband storms out of their bedroom and picks up the baby. Accusing Sara of being unfit, yelling at her, he takes the baby into their bedroom and shuts the door on her in the middle of the night. She wakes up the next day having fallen asleep at the desk in the room where she saw the ghosts. He doesn’t comfort her. He doesn’t try to talk to her or understand what’s going on. He doesn’t start coming home earlier from work. Honestly? He sucks.
A big focus of the film is Sara and her mental health and how it affects her whole family. It’s her responsibility to be happy in her situation in order for her family to accept her and to be able to continue on with their simple, happy life.
As a woman who’s been pregnant three times and had two kids, I felt 100 percent in Sara’s corner. Having postpartum depression can feel shameful, even these days. Admitting you’re not feeling super happy and content as a new mother isn’t easy. And I do believe women will downplay symptoms and feelings in order to not alarm others or to present as if they are completely happy with motherhood.
Overall, this movie left me thinking, which for me is a mark of a good movie. I wondered how it’d go for Sara with this next baby. Will the ghosts/her postpartum return? I thought a lot about how it applies to current gender roles and expectations, despite being set in a different time. I thought the allegory of a postpartum story and a horror film experience was well done.
It’s creepy but not gory, gross or in your face, even with the themes of rape and abuse. I’d give this film a solid B+ and would recommend it to other horror loving fans.