BED REST

Bed Rest (2022)
Directed by: Lori Evans Taylor
Written by: Lori Evans Taylor
Starring: Edie Inksetter, Guy Burnet, Melissa Barrera, Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez

Ordered to bed rest, a heavily pregnant Melissa Barrera (Scream) starts to see ghouls in the night, but is it all in her head in this “seen it all before” horror!

Having survived two attacks by Ghostface, Melissa Barrera whose departure from the SCREAM franchise is still being talked about by fans, now finds herself with a different ghost to fight in this spooky flick BED REST, a horror that may find some love with newcomers to the genre, but old veterans may get bored by the time things go bump in the night.

Barrera plays Julie, a heavily pregnant wife, having moved to a new home with her husband Daniel (Guy Burnet) for a fresh start after the loss of their son who was still-born and both now being cautious and wary of their upcoming birth. The theme of child loss and potentially PTSD from the trauma is one of the strongest aspects of this film, in which Barrera in particular carries the plot through its lull moments, thanks to a brilliant turn as the excited Mum to be, who is still grieving the loss of her child.

When an old piece of jewellery is found within the house in which Julie then wears, things start to go freaky and when an incident places Julie under bed-rest for a few weeks, she starts to see a figure of a young boy through the house, peering in the corner of each room, playing in the snow outside and basically warning her of some impending danger.

But is real? Is this all in her head? Her husband of course refuses to believe and is concerned for her mental health, but as the “activity” increases, so does the danger to the family and while this horror never really raises the tension it badly requires, it just does enough to keep you watching as the plot unfolds into some unexpected territory.

The trouble with BED REST is that while its a simple watch, it offers nothing new to the well worn formula. The set-pieces are typical and cliché ridden with the scares lacking any imaginative moments to make it stand out among all the other films of this nature, but the climax does offer some moments that will raise your interest and its aptly directed by Lori Evans Taylor who brings the best out of the basic script!

Fans of Barrera bemoaning the loss of the character Tara from future visits to Woodsboro will no doubt be happy to see her back in horror action, but aside from a few decent moments, Bed Rest is a ” by the numbers” ghost flick that never once threatens to get interesting or sadly wants to take any risks.

Things may go bump in the night…..but you may pull the bed covers over you and go back to sleep as its nothing you haven’t seen before….

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