CONTENT WARNING: THE PERISHED contains subjects and themes that may be sensitive for some viewers. Child loss, abortion, body horror. Proceed accordingly.

Irish “mother and baby homes” are shrouded in mystery and secrecy. Managed by the church, run by nuns, they are where unwed mothers were sent to deliver their children.  Operating in the first half of the 20th century, mother and baby homes were part hospital and part workhouse. The last mother and baby home remained open and operational until the late 1990s, and since then the grim, unspeakable discoveries have been countless. Hundreds of newborns and children died of abuse and neglect, and were buried in secret chambers on the properties. Women were allowed to die of disease or madness. Mothers and babies were separated but expected to remain in the same home for a year – so a mother could be watching her child grow up and never know it. Children stayed in the home until they were at least a year old, some older, at which point most moved into a corrupt and disgusting foster system. The horrors these walls must have seen are unimaginable.

THE PERISHED is the story of Sarah Dekker (Courtney McKeon), a young woman growing up in a conservative family in Ireland. Unfortunately, Sarah finds herself getting pregnant, in spite of her best efforts. She chooses to keep her pregnancy from her family, knowing they’d throw her out immediately, and even to hide it from her boyfriend Shane (Fiach Kunz), who asks for a break between them before she’s able to tell him. Instead she chooses to silently suffer through an abortion, and hope that the whole thing will pass like a bad nightmare. Unfortunately, Sarah is ripped from what is probably her last good dream – literally – as her mother (Noelle Clarke) grabs her by the hair and drags her out of bed to confront her with the abortion clinic brochure she found in the garbage. Sarah has a choice to make, and despite her father’s (Conor Lambert) protestations, there’s no salvaging her relationship with her mother – and so she leaves to make her way on her own.

After a few days struggling alone, Sarah calls her best friend Davet (Paul Fitzgerald), who takes her to his parents’ country home to recover. Just a few days, no phones, no visitors – to allow her to cope with the trauma and upheaval of her life. Unfortunately, Sarah is having what she thinks are side effects of the procedure, and after days of bleeding profusely, wakes up screaming in the night to a horrific vision. These “visions”, or something much more sinister, get worse and reach a head when Davet leaves Sarah alone for a single night. In her panic and pain, Sarah calls the only other person she can think of – Shane. Shane rushes to her side, only to bear witness to unspeakable horror. You see, this home was a shut down mother and baby home, and the restless souls of mutilated and murdered children are looking for a mother.

THE PERISHED is shocking, painful, brutal even. Sarah’s suffering is visceral, guttural, and at times horrifying. McKeon gives a heartbreaking performance, playing both immense resolve and complete immaturity with equal prowess. At moments a hero and moments later, completely incapable of handling her situation. Her sorrow is real, and Sarah’s age and inexperience make an already unthinkable situation even more unbearable. Fitzgerald’s performance as Davet is the perfect counterpoint to McKeon, and his heart is a shining beacon in this bleak tale.

Kudos to the makeup and creature effects teams for making a distinctive and horrifying new creature, and even more kudos to the directing and camera teams for knowing exactly how much to show it and when to cut away. A forgotten art of creature effects is never showing too much, and while we get a lot of creature time in THE PERISHED, it’s only enough to leave you wanting more, still confused at exactly what you’re seeing. That, to me, is the mark of a well done creature.

THE PERISHED has made an indelible mark on me – as a filmmaker, as a film viewer, as a woman – and I urge anyone who is or loves a woman to watch this. There are absolutely major triggers, and the body horror is lowest on the scale of “things that made me cringe” – but the lesson is too important to look away. As a modern, “enlightened” woman, I couldn’t have imagined the immense horrors that occured at these Mother and Baby homes- even within my own lifetime. And while we all have our traumas to deal with, one of the least spoken about and most common is the shame and guilt of child loss – whether intentional or accidental. Women need to know they have a voice to speak about this heartache. Please don’t sleep on THE PERISHED – let’s speak the unspeakable, together, and end the shame.

Go to the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors (CMABS) on Facebook for more information on Mother and Baby Homes and how you can help keep their memory alive.

9/10 stars