‘Baby Ruby’ Director Bess Wohl Wants to Expose the Unsettling Side of Motherhood
variety.comRebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Bess Wohl doesn’t want to compare the process of crafting a film to birthing a child, but the connection is almost too easy given the subject matter of her directorial debut.
Her movie “Baby Ruby,” an unsettling psychological thriller that premieres on Friday at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival, offers the kind of rare, unvarnished look at the good, bad and deeply disturbing aspects of motherhood.
The story follows Jo, a lifestyle influencer whose reality begins to unravel as she and her husband bring their newborn home from the hospital. “There are strange parallels,” the filmmaker says over iced coffee and pain au chocolat (which goes tragically uneaten) at a cafe near New York City’s Bryant Park. “Not to overwork a metaphor, but it’s putting something into the world that’s going to have a life without you.” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actor Noémie Merlant and Kit Harington of “Game of Thrones” fame lead the cast, though the film’s undisputed star is a newborn girl, whose (pointed?) glares and uncontrollable wails plunge her fragile mother deeper and deeper into disarray — not that her mom’s loyal followers would notice.
After all, social media is best used as a showcase of Instagrammable baby showers and picture-perfect nurseries rather than spit-up, sleep deprivation and paranoia.
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