Changeling (2019)

Directed by: Faye Jackson | 10 minutes | short film, horror | Actors: Lara Belmont, Archibald Burt, Catalin Paraschiv, Deborah Brown, Deneice Brown, Zoe Keddie, Kenzo Rodney

There are people who shiver at the idea of ​​having to change a baby, in ‘Changeling’ that horror scenario is stepped up a few notches.

A mother sits on a bench in the park. Next to her is a pram, the baby cries heartbreakingly. If she picks it up and comforts it, things seem to get a little better. Wearily she lays it to her chest. Then something rushes past at Roadrunner’s speed. The mother puts the baby down in shock and sees that a brown gunk is sticking to the pram.

The next scene takes place at a mother-baby gathering (presumably a class or something). The baby’s diaper is full of brown sludge and no – it’s not baby poo. It seems to be moving.

That brown stuff, that’s what ‘Changeling’ is all about. Where that gunk is, animals also appear; a rat, a fox…

‘Changeling’ is a short, but mysterious film, which relies more on atmosphere and effects than on telling a finished story. Lara Belmont, born in 1980, convincingly plays the role of the new mother; her fatigue is evident, add to that the uneasiness of this new responsibility and the accompanying insecurities and fears and you can imagine that it is all just a nightmare.