Born

Right now you can watch Born on streaming — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. A 4/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Joan Severance anchors it with a performance that rewards close attention. Start it whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Born earns its spot. The writing in Born treats its characters as people first, plot devices second. Mary Elizabeth goes to bed alone one night, still a twenty one year old virgin, and wakes up the next morning pregnant. Possessed by the demon fetus growing within her womb, Mary Elizabeth obeys her homicidal cravings to kill, for the sake of her unborn spawn. Mary Elizabeth's dark transformation is controlled by her unborn demon child's deadly evil cravings. Joan Severance and Alison Brie lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2007. Born resists tidy resolutions in a way that respects how messy real consequences actually are. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

For anyone looking for storytelling that takes its characters seriously, Born delivers. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Joan Severance carries the material with a performance that rewards close attention. Worth starting sooner rather than later.