I’ve watched a few films in the past few years where the story involves women being pregnant. Either the movie has babies in them as the main focus or the state itself is a prop for the emergence of some kind of monster. The Clinic movie is based on a true story and I have a special quiz set up at the bottom to see how much you think might be true.
Some of them have actually been good, not gratuitous, and well-made like Still/Born, Grace, and, Prevenge. Others have been weird like Cynthia but once you start digging around, the theme, in general, is used quite a lot.
The Clinic is inspired by events from history blended with the urban legend of waking up in a bathtub filled with ice and an organ missing. It’s specifically set prior to 1978 when DNA testing was not a thing yet too, giving it some realism.
To back up the ‘inspired’ part, I went digging and ended up stumbling upon a term called baby farming. If you’re interested in that, scroll to the end for some not-so-fabulous highlights on some incidents I discovered.
Who Made The Clinic?
James Rabbitts wrote and directed this film and this is his only full-length film to date. I tried to find some more information about the man but found nothing. It was quite strange really. I wonder if this is a case of Alan Smithee?
Released in Melbourne in 2010 at the Melbourne International Film Festival, it eventually had a television premiere in 2011 followed by a DVD release. All things considered, I quite liked the film and find it weird to now be unable to find information regarding projects for many people involved in the production.
The Clinic is a Horror Movie About Being Pregnant
The Clinic is a slow burn with an interesting and shocking premise. Back in the ’90s, there were a bunch of stories floating that went viral all over the internet. The story stated that tourists traveling were wary of a well-financed group of individuals creeping around and drugging people.
They would leave their victims in a bathtub full of ice with a mobile phone and a note. The gang member would then head off to the black market with the organ of their choice. At the time it was thought to be kidneys and the victim would wake up and read the note that said,
“Call 911 if you want to live.”
Quote from The Clinic
But is it Real? Is The Clinic Movie True Story?
So far, there are no real cases of this actually happening. Organ theft generally doesn’t leave people alive, I learned while researching. Also, sitting on ice is not that great if you are dying.
The film takes that premise and blends it with a bit of historical baby farming. After introducing a few characters it drops a bunch of women into a remote location who all wake up in bathtubs full of ice. In what can only be described as a very elaborate compound, the women discover their unborn babies are gone. Someone’s given them a quick cesarian and made off with their babies.
This movie about a bunch of pregnant women desperately trying to figure out what type of mess they are in does have a bunch of holes. They plod around, hold a funeral, chit-chat too much about irrelevant topics, and don’t do a whole lot to figure out how to escape. All the while, someone in their midst is killing them off one by one.
Compelling Movie Characters
In the background, one of the women’s partners (played by Andy Whitfield) is doing a fine job not making stupid decisions. The filmmakers decided to make him the ultimate anti-horror trope. With a small cast, it’s easy to spot who the collaborators might be and he falls for none of the usual crap they always try. Halfway through the movie, I was praying they didn’t waste his non-idiot skills. He does get spectacularly slowed down but even that was done kind of well.
Some movies rely on the end game to win over the audience. If the story is good enough, sometimes you stay with even the worst movies wanting to know the outcome. This is one of those times where you really have to wait until the final quarter if you want to get some answers. If you want to know how all the pieces fit together, you have to watch it right to the end. Unless of course, you were paying close attention to all the clues and worked it out.
A Pregnant Movie Pause
The payoff was okay but overall this one’s like a million-to-one chance the coincidences allowed it to happen at all. The saying, ‘right place right time’ has got nothing on this but I liked it nonetheless. Especially because of the blended legends and historical atrocities, I was glad I knocked this off my watchlist. If you came here for answers, there is a short spoiler section at the end.
The atmosphere and cinematography are quite good too. Brad Shield is one of the few names involved in this film who went on to bigger things (like Spider-man: Homecoming 2017.) Its production designer’s most recent accolades are Bait (2012) and In Like Flynn (2018.) Maybe Brad or Nicholas McCallum know what happened to James Rabbitts.
For another movie like this where someone steals a child, watch Mother’s Instinct or Motherly or The Pod Generation, next.
The Clinic is rated
3 babies in cages out of 5
Produced by The Little Film Company
- AUSTRALIAN FOUND FOOTAGE: The Tunnel is an Australian cult classic found footage.
- AUSTRALIAN MOVIES 2019: The Furies is a slash-and-dash horror slice of Australian cinema.
Where to Watch “The Clinic”
THE CLINIC 2022 is streaming on:
Powered byExplanation of The Clinic 2010 Ending
Finally, a bit of a spoiler section. If these dot points don’t answer your burning questions about The Clinic movie, flick me an email on the About Me page contact form and I’ll get back to you.
- Also, the local police, the motel owner, and Ms. Shephard run a baby farm.
- Parents wanting a child can adopt a baby that is deemed the strongest after a warehouse experiment is completed.
- The strongest baby is determined as being the one whose mother is the only survivor. The adoptive parents then get to assassinate the mother before taking the child.
- Each woman has a colored tag inserted into her abdomen after the incision which matches the baby’s leg tag. Only one woman is told about the tags and the rest are left to their own devices.
- After Hank accidentally shoots the adoptive father, Beth discovers she was also adopted as a result of the warehouse experiment. What she thought were visions, was a deep memory of something she inherently knew.
- Finally, upon the discovery of her mother’s name, Beth finds and visits the grave and after that discovers fresh flowers have been left. After talking to the groundskeeper she realizes that she had just walked past her biological father. She walks down the hill to seek him out.
