I’m a firm believer that childbirth is body horror and that we do not have nearly enough reproductive horror. Which is why films like Goody Goody appearing in festivals is something to be celebrated. While birthing pools and midwives are not part of my life plan, I know many people who have chosen this route. Deciding to have a kid comes with unparalleled anxieties, no matter how (or where) you decide to push it out. However, doing it at home adds layers of stress that the movie taps into.
Goody Goody introduces us to expecting parents Goody (Samantha Robinson) and Jason (Colby Hollman). They sought out Sarah (Colleen Foy) as a midwife and ignored her concerns about having the home birth in their isolated home during the winter. Sarah has a vision of them trying to do it alone that forces her to go against her better judgment and agree to help the couple. Candace (Zoe Renee), Jason’s sister, joins the trio and serves as an assistant during the birthing process. However, things go frighteningly wrong because this is the horror genre. A blizzard cuts them entirely off from the outside world, and they soon have reason to believe that this is not an ordinary birth or baby.
Writer-director Raymond Creamer’s feature starts off with the unsettling vibes we crave. There are even a couple of moments that make you lean in and believe Goody Goody might be a moment. However, the film quickly reveals that it’s a great exercise in tension but will test your patience. The sight of a pregnant woman in a birthing pool being abruptly pulled around by her belly is a mood. The Black guy dying first in 2026 is not. All of the creepy imagery baked into the film shows promise and potential. Yet, does it do us any good if it just opens more questions that we’ll never have answers to?
This genre loves to see a demonic baby coming, but we also need to know anything about the demon. What we have here is the waste of what appears to be a satanic octopus. One with a demonic dad, who we only get a few glimpses of in the corners of a few frames. Goody Goody doesn’t owe us a full monster reveal for the father or his tentacled offspring. However, knowing how Goody ended up pregnant with this thing would be cool. Or even knowing why this couple was targeted might be nice. Sadly, the cast does a lot of heavy lifting with not a whole lot to work with. They are the reason it’s hard not to invest a little.
It took way too long to figure out if Candace was Jason’s sister, a kid from a previous relationship, a close friend of the couple, or perhaps a third in a throuple. All we know is that she is close enough to put her hands in the pool and tiptoe too closely to the “Black Best Friend” trope. Candace also teases Goody about being a white woman with cornrows. This conversation feels like lampshading. The thing creatives do where they call attention to their problem and then do it anyway. We’re in 2026, and a woman marrying into a Black family would know about The CROWN Act. It made me wonder how Goody interacts with the rest of the family. It also makes her character seem clueless and naive in ways that aren’t flattering. This is also frustrating because the film is overflowing with talent, and everyone deserves so much more than what they were given.
I cannot pretend that Goody Goody’s initial promise will be more than enough for some horror fans to forgive where it goes. However, I would have traded the Hereditary-inspired dream that Candace has in the third act for an answer to any of the questions it never answers. I would also love to hear Creamer discuss the imagery of this dream and what he wanted it to signify because I doubt it’s coming across the way it was intended. Unfortunately, that could be said about much of this movie, though.
If you power down the part of the brain that wants answers, turn the lights off, and scare easily, it’s possible to have a great time with Goody Goody. However, if you are a person who focuses on the script, then you will struggle with this one. While I take issue with his screenplay and some of the choices on screen, I do think Creamer is a talented director. The way he builds and maintains suspense with these actors is outstanding. Especially when so much is being left to the imagination, but it still manages to get the audience to buy in. Hopefully, his next project gives him a stronger vehicle to showcase all of his potential. Because I see the vision, and it’s part of the reason I am so frustrated with this project.
