Postpartum (2007)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Randy DeFord

Writers:

Cheryl Carmin Shaver (novel) and
Randy Deford (adaptation)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

Some Children Find Their Way Home

Plot:

A bitter young man searches for his birth mother to deliver his justice for being given up at birth, not knowing his biological mother has hired a private investigator to locate him.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

K. Elaine Hooker	...	Beth Benton
Adam Shephard	...	Gabe Townsend
Laura Parish	...	Paula Callahan
Daniel Boughton	...	Mike
Jim Dougherty	...	Jim Benton
Donald A. Becker	...	Crawford
Steve 'Papaw' Pyatte	...	Dugan
Stacey Wilson	...	Angela
Laura Beth Clevenger	...	Danielle Benton
Dave Ewick	...	Jess Wilson
Toni Puterbaugh	...	Young Beth
Joshua C. Ramsey	...	Mark Randall (as Joshua Ramsey)
Chris Morisse	...	Mabel Ross
Rhonda Tinch-Mize	...	Mary
Nikki Price	...	Emily Delp

Runtime:

USA:106 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Delphi, Indiana, USA

Company:

Oak Road Multimedia

Regional sunshine noir that works

Randy DeFord's "Postpartum" is proof that talent transcends all. With less money in his budget than a family spends on a weekend vacation, and even less money than you would pay for a so-so used car, the award-winning DeFord and his committed team of co-directors, crew and cast have crafted a murder story that persists through generations and comes face to face with you across the kitchen table. Based on the book by author, Cheryl Carmin Shaver, DeFord and co-writer, Cassandra Schomer, adapted the book into a sunshine-noir screenplay. Always visually confident, this movie boasts one of the creepiest houses I've seen in ANY movie (and that includes Norman's home and Leatherface's home) --and which DeFord introduces with an aerial shot no less. Casting of Indiana theater professionals is pitch perfect. The best thing about "Postpartum"? It's a "think-piece"-murder-story. One cannot come away without thinking hard and long on the issues of nature-nurture and "the sins of the fathers." Boy-howdy on that one. In this story, Death has an accompanist, Destiny. When those two become a tag-team, one has a murder mystery that is more than just thoughtful, it is an assault by philosophy. Philosophy can assault us-- whether we liked it or not in school. Philosophy assaults us whether we ever studied it or not. Philosophy works a lot at funerals—and murders. "Postpartum" is a regional film to see.