Reflective Encounters

“A dissociative loss of selfhood is intrinsic to the body horror genre, but traditionally this comes as a direct result of internal physical transformations. For Lilith though, it is only a secondary consequence to external factors, for in the eyes of those around her she is no longer Lilith: she is The Bump. For the majority of Yummy Mummy its commentary on how the pregnant are treated is played for absurdist laughs: the beleaguered mother-to-be enduring a rotating parade of in-laws, health workers and strangers proffering their unsolicited advice in the presence of The Bump, whilst increasingly neglecting the well-being of its bearer.

However, the horror of the situation soon escalates: after her mood-lifting cinema visit is admonished as a nutritional catastrophe, Lilith’s agency is diminished further, her state increasingly resembling a psychosis-laced form of locked-in syndrome. The film’s sobering final scene seems to carry an additional metaphorical resonance in the light of the recent overturning of Roe v Wade in the United States: when The Bump is elevated to the sacrosanct, the person bearing it is implicitly demoted to the status of its mere vessel.”

— Jonathan Bygraves