‘Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant’ is Radically Honest Body Horror [Sundance Review]

Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant is a refreshing sci-fi body horror comedy featuring a charming cast and some genuinely shocking moments that go to screamingly obscene places with glee and cosmic purpose. Best of all, every corner of its themes, like bodily autonomy, parenthood, intersex experiences, and medical dismissal of women, are addressed with significant depth. It also, somehow, manages to stay consistently and actually funny throughout.

In the film, Mary and Boo are two late-twenty-something shut-ins still living with their mothers. Boo is socially isolated and physically alien in ways that complicate his relationships. After a bizarre sexual encounter between them leads to Mary becoming pregnant with an alien child, the situation triggers a spiral of confusion and panic as doctors dismiss her concerns and medical options become increasingly limited. As the pregnancy progresses rapidly, both mothers insert themselves into the situation, attempting to manage it but only creating further delays and complications. The film leans into the suffocating nature of these maternal dynamics.

A surprisingly tender romance anchors everything emotionally, acting as a joy to watch even as things get weirder and sloppier, providing the film with warmth without sanding down its sharp edges. This is a sloppy, honest, and funny movie that seems to find joy in its icky, gooey, and uncomfortable honesty. The gross-out moments are purposeful, tied directly to ideas about how quickly control can slip away when systems fail you. The story consistently centers choice and agency, allowing the protagonist, Mary, to define her own limits rather than being forced to conform.

This vision comes from the creative duo Thunderlips, whose direction is confident and unafraid to push discomfort into unexpected territory. Their approach balances shock with clarity, grounding the film’s more extreme bits in character and intent. Thunderlips demonstrates a strong command of style and theme, moving fluidly (heh) between absurdity, intimacy, and body horror without losing focus.

The cast here is led by Hannah Lynch in a brilliant turn as the listless millennial Mary. And with her at the lead, the ensemble’s chemistry keeps the film human even at peak strange. A pivotal moment highlights the line, “You might have to watch your language if you want to be taken seriously,” which serves as a cutting indictment of women being ignored by medicine to the point of humiliation and Lynch embodies the journey of this injustice brilliantly.

The film does not merely allude to all this; it spotlights the known issue and the widespread agony it causes, showing that women’s bodies policed by indifferent authority figures more interested in compartmentalizing them than helping them. This lack of empathy from the authorities lends itself to a literal vacuum that the film fills with visceral, biological chaos.

Speaking of, the body horror is outrageous and at times spectacular. It can be genuinely difficult to watch, varying from hilarious to mind-melting. It’s gooey, chewy, and the sound of it—a wet, squelching landscape of practical effects—will haunt a nauseous stomach long after the film is over. The foley work is particularly aggressive, making every physical transformation feel painfully real and uncomfortably close.

Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant is a radically honest discussion of bodily autonomy, intersex experiences, and queerness, even offering multiple nuanced perspectives on parenthood. It is a film that leans into shock with glee, but always keeps its gross-out moments tied to the themes of medical dismissal and the loss of agency. By the time it reaches its unruly conclusion, it has established itself as a bold, messy, and deeply felt piece of genre filmmaking that refuses to compromise.

Tags: Featured Post Mum I’m Alien Pregnant Sundance 2026 Thunderlips

Categorized: News Reviews