Director: John Lee

Writers: John Lee and Ilana Glazer

Starring: Ilana Glazer, Justin Theroux, Pierce Brosnan, Sophia Bush

Rating: ★★½

False Positive is a thriller directed by John Lee, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ilana Glazer. It’s very similar to Rosemary’s Baby, without the satanic side. Glazer stars as Lucy, who has been trying to have a child with her husband, Adrian (Justin Theroux) for two years without success. As a last resort they go to Adrian’s old medical teacher Dr Hindle (Pierce Brosnan), who helps them get pregnant. Lucy starts to feel strange and suspicious of her doctor and husband and starts to suspect that not everything is as it seems.

If you’re familiar with Rosemary’s Baby, then this is pretty much exactly what you’re expecting. Even if you’ve never heard of it, it won’t take long for False Positive to become very predictable. It’s a story about Lucy feeling paranoid, and you know that she has to be on the right lines because the film exists and it’s not really that daring to do something different. Right from the beginning with the opening titles, that feels like they belong in a film from the 90s, it feels like it goes through the motions.

For the most part the film is decent enough to keep it entertaining. The performances are good and there’s some tension that builds up as things move forward. Pierce Brosnan is surprisingly good as the evil the doctor. He has a fake charm about him, that comes across sinister. Then when the film reaches the final act things start to go off the rails. It feels like a desperate attempt to ground the film and make it different from what’s come before. The final ten minutes get stranger and stranger until it becomes laughable. It’s still entertaining though.

Overall False Positive is a largely forgettable film. It’s very predictable and there’s nothing really unique about it. It’s easy to watch as braindead entertainment but is nothing more than that. Definitely not worth going out of your way to watch.

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