Inconceivable Review
Director: Jonathan Baker.
Starring: Nicky Whelan, Gina Gershon, Nicolas Cage.
Angela (Gina Gershon) and Brian (Nicolas Cage) are a very successful power couple who have it all, well almost it all. The pair are having difficulty conceiving a child. They already have one daughter, the result of an egg donor, but their attempts to have a baby naturally don’t seem to be working. They then meet young, single mother Katie (Nick Whelan), and after Angela and Katie form a fast bond, decide to use Katie as their surrogate. Things start to turn nasty though as Katie becomes increasingly more attached to the unborn child. Concerned, Angela starts to investigate Katie and the truth is more shocking than she could ever have imagined…
Despite his name being all over the marketing materials, Nic Cage takes a backseat on this one, letting our leading ladies take the spotlight. This means that we get to focus in on Gina Gershon as our worried wife, and Nicky Whelan as the dangerous female let loose in their house. As Katie, Nicky Whelan is simply fantastic. Usually these sorts of characters are clearly off their rocker, but here Whelan stops herself just short of crazy. Katie’s motives actually make a lot of sense in a twisted kind of way, and as such, solicit a lot of empathy from the audience. In fact, some audience members may find themselves siding with Katie and routing for her to win out against Angela and Brian.
Inconceivable Review
A film that can and will be compared to the likes of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Chloe, Obsessed etc., Inconceivable actually manages to stand out on its own. The film doesn’t follow all the typical beats found within past films within this sub-genre. It easily exists in the same kind of world, but it plays things much subtler (to a point) and keeps the audience guessing. There is a lot of misdirection thrown at the viewer, and as the mystery unravels and truths are displayed, many will be surprised to find they’ve been tricked.
Inconceivable offers a mysterious thriller that rises above usual genre tropes, becoming something very interesting indeed. It deals with some very modern parenting issues, and some taboo subjects that are rarely explored within celluloid. It feels fresh, if not a little soapy in places, and is held together by a fantastic central performance by Whelan.
Inconceivable is out on all home formats now.
