Movie: Baby Ruby

As brooding and disordered as its namesake, "Baby Ruby" aims to depict the harrowing experience of postpartum psychosis resembling a horror film. However, it falls short of presenting the condition convincingly or cohesively in the horror genre.

The story unfolds with Jo (Noémie Merlant), a thriving blogger, hosting her own baby shower at the stylish upstate cabin she shares with her husband, Spencer (Kit Harington). Jo openly expresses her desire to be a modern mom, balancing a loving marriage, a sophisticated home, a successful career, and a perfect baby.

In the weeks following Ruby's birth, Jo undergoes a tumultuous period of delusions and paranoia. Dealing with a colicky baby, Jo oscillates between an intense compulsion to protect the infant and an uncomfortable resentment towards her existence.

It was once considered taboo to suggest that new motherhood isn't all sunshine and rainbows, and "Baby Ruby" joins a contemporary wave of films exploring the intertwining joys and miseries of child-rearing.

Yet, directed by Bess Wohl, the film often resorts to telling rather than showing these emotional states. Jo's control-freak nature is conveyed through conflicts with Spencer's domineering mother (Jayne Atkinson) and conversations with her new friend (Meredith Hagner, injecting humor amid the gloom). While retro visual elements like repeated cuts and mirror effects add aesthetic flair to Jo's descent, "Baby Ruby" barely makes a whimper, let alone a scream.