Review - No Choice (Spoiler-free)

Amy (Hannah Deale) barely scrapes by; working two thankless jobs whilst simultaneously caring for her drug-addict mother, Debra (Jennifer Herzog). The hope of a brighter future for the hardworking young woman is on the horizon, with the prospects of exciting scholarships looming, however, her aspirations and entire selfhood are ripped to shreds when she unexpectedly falls pregnant.

No Choice is a startling feature from debut director Nate Hilgartner, that strips bare the horror of the modern world to the bone and reveals the insidious battle between the psyche and body when autonomy is stolen. The viewer is directly positioned alongside Amy throughout the horrid ordeal, taking each nerve-wrecking step with her and witnessing the excruciating consequences that materialise from her bodily constraints. Here is the crux of No Choice; Amy has no choice but to abide by and endure her pregnancy, as it is revealed that she lives in a pro-life state where abortion is illegal. The pressures of imminent childbirth, the ceasing of familiarity and the financial, emotional and societal implications of bearing children all seep into the narrative, yet what remains the pertinent theme is its bleak telling of Amy's lack of free-will which is explored through a nightmarish smorgasbord of haunting hallucinations.

As Amy grapples with her reality, she begins to experience strange dreams that infuse surrealist thematics with unhinged, anxiety-inducing implications that bask in technicolour madness. The increasingly volatile spells that Amy visualises encompasses No Choice's thesis of brooding atmospheres that show the turmoil in a distorting manner. Rather than overwhelm with copious exposition and explanations of Amy's psychological state, No Choice screens insights into her subconscious, where the symbolism-heavy hazes deliberately disrupts the cognizant process, with Hilgartner alternatively optioning to provoke through allegorical power.

Further emphasising No Choice's persistent surveying of reproductive chastising anchors on the film's cast, mainly Deale, whose portrayal of Amy is not only cinematically impressive, but also incredibly diverse in a palpable, almost corporeal sense. Essentially, Deale grips the viewer through her genuine, believable rendering of such a situation, stirring a wealth of empathy that is a crucial component in No Choice's affective nature. Joining Deale is Maria Prudente as the sympathetic Dr. McAnnis, Robert Denzel Edwards as Amy's caring colleague and friend Lucas, Hayden Frank as the benevolent Seth, and Herzog whose evocation of an absentee yet overbearing and disdainful mother is brilliantly infuriating.

No Choice is not afraid to enact a gritty truth that torments and disturbs those affected, in turn fostering a filmic tone that is replicative of pure, unabashed, and most crucially lingering dread.