Into the Dark: Delivered (2020)

Ratings: ⭐⭐⭐

May's entry in Blumhouse Television Production's anthology series Into the Dark pays tribute to Mother's Day with a tale centring on a very pregnant mother who meets the wrong person and ends up in fighting for her and her baby's life. While the premise of the story may not be that original, as it seems to have drawn a lot of inspiration from Stephen King's Misery, this episode pleasantly manages to stand on its own in spite of this. Happily I can finally say that this is one of the better episodes for the series which has so far come up with more dudes than winners.

The key factors making this really tight and gripping is the well written script and very strong performances from its two leading ladies, Natalie Paul as the pregnant wife and Tina Majorino who play someone with some deep hidden secrets. Both these actresses are pretty much unknowns but they handled their roles like seasoned accomplished actors elevating this above the usual mediocre episodes from Into the Dark. I am also thankful that there is no necessity to infuse dark humour or tongue in cheek comments to soften the violent theme. While much of the actual violence were kept off screen, the strategy paid off because what remained were even more grimacing to watch. A word of advice to expecting mothers though. This definitely NOT a movie you would want to watch.

This episode was directed by Emma Tammi whose last work was the atmospheric and moody piece The Wind, a slow study of how loneliness can play tricks on the mind and affect the mental state of it. Here with Delivered she has thankfully shown more restrain on the abstract narration as was in The Wind, opting for a more approachable format. All in all, kudos to Blumhouse for a pleasant May surprise.