THE CLINIC

Australia, 2010, 94 minutes, Colour.
Tabrett Bethell, Freya Stafford, Andy Whitfield, Clare Bowen, Sophie Lowe, Boris Brkic, Marshall Napier, Elizabeth Alexander.
Directed by James Rabbitts.

The Australian film industry, like those of many other countries, has followed the lead of the United States in providing production opportunities for young and first-time directors to gain some experience by making small-budget intense dramas or horror dramas with the slasher touch (Road Train, The Loved Ones).

This one opens in south western New South Wales and its vast open country around Deniliquin. Pregnant Beth and her boyfriend, Cameron, are on their way to visit her parents for Christmas. It is all very leisurely and chatty until a speeding ambulance pushes them off the road. That should have been enough of a warning. Then they stay at a seedy motel beloved of this genre of film, with a seedier receptionist to boot.

Then Beth (Tabrett Bethell) disappears.

Cameron is not too pleased and gets tangled with the local police when he threatens the receptionist. But, Beth wakes up naked in a bath of ice cubes.

The film is one of those which builds up slowly even though there are a few shock moments as Beth finds herself in a uniform in a vast abattoir. And she is not alone. Several other women have given birth, are imprisoned and don’t know what has happened to their babies. The women don’t realise, but the audience does, that they are being watched on monitors as they try to find a way out, bond and then clash, and realise that they are diminishing in rather graphically gory ways.

As the tension mounts and we discover what this macabre clinic is about, we find that there is a very grim climax and then a twist that takes us by surprise.

With its focus on pregnant mothers, babies and the threats to the children and a bizarre adoption theme, this is a thriller for making its female audience tense.

1. Psychological thriller? The touch of horror? The touch of the slasher film?

2. The Australian production, the use of locations, cast, Australian flavour? Score?

3. The film as building up its atmosphere slowly?

4. The puzzle, the women, pregnant, finding themselves together, bewildered, the monitors, the attempts at escape, the violent deaths?

5. The final explanation, macabre, the twist for Beth and her family?

6. The opening, the ordinary couple, their relationship, Beth as pregnant, Cameron and the driving, across the open spaces of New South Wales, Christmas, going to see her parents, travelling, the bonds, the ambulance coming up, menacing, the swerve?

7. The decision to stay at the motel, reception and the brusque receptionist, his being suspicious later, with the police, Cameron and his accusations, the violence, the truth?

8. The police, the reaction, Cameron and his clash, taking the car, taking the gun?

9. At the pool, the couple coming in and looking – and the sinister aspects later?

10. Cameron, the search, his attack on the receptionist, getting the car, the gun, the crash?

11. Beth waking up in the bath, the ice cubes, the mystery, the uniform? Discovering the other women, in a similar situation? The group?

12. The visuals of the abattoir, its immensity, the corridors, the darkness? The extent?

13. The bonds between the women, their search, the plans, the attempts to escape, the fence, the dogs?

14. Seeing the babies, not knowing the identities, the chips inside them, cutting themselves open, killing to identify the baby?

15. The macabre aspects of the births, the holding of the babies, of the women?

16. The deaths, the violence?

17. Beth finding Duncan, his caravan, mentally impaired, his reactions, the revelation of Miss Shepard, his role?

18. Beth, in chains, her baby, the background of her nightmares and their visualisation? Miss Shepard, the prospective parents? The sinister talk, explanations?

19. Duncan, the gun, the shooting, the mother’s death? The father and his being taunted to kill Beth? The truth about the adoptions, the scheme, the parents choosing the babies, choosing the mothers, killing the mothers?

20. The confrontation with Miss Shepard, her death? Her revealing the truth about Beth’s parents, the similar situation, the death of her mother?

21. The visit to the cemetery, her mother’s grave, the words of the gravedigger – and Beth going to try to find out about her family?

22. The sinister aspects of this kind of story, women and pregnancy, adoption – especially for a female audience?