THE SURROGATE
Cert 15 ★★★★
In cinemas now
Writer-director Jeremy Hersh explores big issues in this compelling, thoughtful, and well-acted drama.
Jess Harris (Jasmine Batchelor) is a bubbly 29-year-old Brooklynite who agrees to be an egg donor and surrogate for best friend Josh (Chris Perfetti) and his wealthy husband Aaron (Sullivan Jones).
As Aaron is a lawyer, the three are convinced they have covered every eventuality. The men will raise the child as their own, with Jess taking the role of a supportive aunt. “They’re the parents, I’m just the vessel,” she tells a waitress when this unconventional family celebrate her pregnancy with dinner.
Then, about 10 minutes into the film, their plans are thrown into chaos when a prenatal test reveals the unborn child has Down’s syndrome.
Josh and Aaron are devastated but Jess cajoles them into accompanying her to a Down’s syndrome support group. While the men seem uncomfortable playing with the
children, Jess arranges a dinner with Bridget (Brooke Bloom), exhausted mother of a highfunctioning child called Leon. Jess falls in love with the adorable toddler but Bridget seems concerned by Jess’s rose-tinted view of parenting a disabled child.
It all starts to fall apart when Jess decides to have the child on her own.
A series of beautifully written clashes reveal how the characters’ different viewpoints are informed by gender, race and class.
The cast mostly come from New York theatre and there is a slightly stagey feel to the wordy drama.
But the director never lets his camera upstage his talented performers and keeps a tight hand on the plot. His refusal to craft heroes or villains means we’re never sure how it will play out.