Izzy Lee gave us a very good impression with his A Favor (review here) and his directorial prowess is once again confirmed with Postpartum, a short film that boasts in the cast Kasey Lansdale, the daughter of the famous American writer Joe R. Lansdale, who gives a decent acting performance. As the title suggests, Postpartum addresses the topic of postnatal depression, a mood disorder that can affect women after childbirth and which has already been exploited in film in disturbing movies including Baby Blues by Lars Jacobson (2008) and Grace by Paul Solet (2009).
Assuming that reality is fertile ground in which the basest and most horrifying human instincts lurk, Izzy Lee, co-writer with Christopher Hallock, draws from it, thus choosing as her theme the burning mood disorder after childbirth. In its brevity (about six minutes) Postpartum succeeds in conveying that sense of oppression and madness generated by the protagonist Holly (Kasey Lansdale), a woman with serious psychological problems who is visited by her landlady (Diana Porter) to incite her to pay the months of rent arrears. The mood disorder is joined by the horror component that resides not only in the problem the protagonist is experiencing but in her actions, in her son, in the dark house clouded by the stench of death, and even in the wonderful music (Shayne Gryn).
In Postpartum, produced by Nihil Noctem Films (Izzy Lee's own production company), the senses of sight, smell but also hearing are extraordinarily involved. Indeed, the music, macabre and piercing, blends well with this dramatic and at the same time sick story. With almost funereal overtones, there is also the sweet lullaby of a music box that turns into a somber dirge for a highly ominous result.
For the making of this film, Izzy Lee again relies on the collaboration of Christopher Hallock, Bryan McKay and Shayne Gryn, respectively the screenwriter, cinematographer and composer of A Favor. A perfect quartet whose intersecting work results in a successful and worthwhile film about postpartum disorder.
Postpartum will be screened at the Fantasia Film Festival 2015 on August 2 along with Lady Psycho Killer by Nathan Oliver.
