IN HER PLACE

In Her Place The miracle of birth is anything but in this tightly wound second feature from Canadian writer/director Albert Shin. An unnamed husband and wife arrive on a secluded, dilapidated farm in South Korea with plans to adopt the as-yet-unborn child of a troubled, semi-feral teenager who lives there with her mother. The wife will stay to watch over the pregnancy but also to stay out of sight — to avoid Korea’s societal disapproval of adoption, she’s pretending to be spending nine months in America and giving birth there herself. The husband heads back to Seoul for work, leaving the three women to work out an uneasy living arrangement. But trouble stirs when the baby’s father tries to intrude, and when it becomes clear that the surrogate is not eating properly — unless one can derive nutrition from bits of walls and floorboards. Shin’s steady camerawork is reminiscent of Michael Haneke’s, as is his deft creation of a quiet, illdefined dread. Meanwhile, the idyllic natural setting is consistently undercut by a creepy, brooding score. A shocking turn of events in the final act is definitely not what to expect when you’re expecting, and not for the squeamish. Shin made the Toronto festival group’s top 10 list for 2014 with this one, and won the Toronto critics’ Jay Scott prize for an emerging artist. In fact, his cast and crew — composer, director of photography, etc. — all suggest they have bright futures ahead. In Her Place heralds the birth of new talent. In Her Place opens Feb. 13 at the Carlton in Toronto. ΔΩ∫½