A growing wave of films is exploring postpartum depression, isolation and the pressures of modern motherhood through the lens of psychological horror.
Horror films have long reflected the anxieties of their time. From the nuclear fears embodied by Godzilla in the 1950s to the serial-killer slashers of the 1980s, the genre has repeatedly transformed real-world concerns into fictional nightmares. A new wave of films is now turning its attention to the psychological challenges of early motherhood.
Films including Baby Ruby (2022), Nightbitch (2024), Die My Love (2025), If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025) and Nightborn, screening at the 2026 BFI London Film Festival, portray mothers pushed towards psychological breakdown or even physical transformation by the demands of raising a child.
Unlike earlier portrayals of motherhood, these films offer little reassurance that the bond between mother and baby will overcome every difficulty. Instead, they explore the isolation, resentment and loss of identity that can accompany the postpartum period, as public discussion of postpartum depression and psychosis becomes more open.
Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968) provides an early precedent. Its pregnant protagonist suspects something is wrong, only to have her concerns dismissed by her husband, neighbours and doctor. Yet the film ultimately depicts Rosemary embracing her demonic child, presenting the maternal bond as powerful enough to overcome betrayal and fear.
The newer films take a more confrontational approach, questioning whether motherhood should be expected to provide fulfilment regardless of the circumstances.
The pressure to be a perfect mother
Modern motherhood often follows a period of careful planning, with women weighing the implications of having children for their finances, careers, relationships and personal development. At the same time, declining birth rates, smaller families and greater geographical distance from relatives mean that some women enter parenthood with limited first-hand experience of caring for babies.
Social media can compound the problem by presenting idealised images of motherhood while offering a constant stream of contradictory parenting advice.
In Baby Ruby, the heavily pregnant Josephine appears to have learned much of what she knows about babies from Instagram. Confident that motherhood will not disrupt her life, she dismisses her husband’s parenting books. After the birth, however, the demands of caring for her child overwhelm her, undermining the self-assurance she displayed before becoming a mother.
A similar conflict drives Die My Love, in which Grace, played by Jennifer Lawrence, moves with her partner Jackson, portrayed by Robert Pattinson, to a deteriorating house in rural Montana. She plans to write a novel while he pursues his music career, but the arrival of their baby disrupts those ambitions. As Jackson increasingly leaves her alone to care for the child, Grace’s mental state deteriorates.
The film presents motherhood not as a seamless extension of a woman’s previous life, but as a transformation that can collide with her ambitions and sense of self.
In If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, perfectionism becomes another source of distress. The central character, played by Rose Byrne, struggles with severe depression and fears that she is failing as a mother. Her desperation exposes the contradiction between the expectation that women should instinctively know how to raise children and the reality that many need substantial support.
Isolation and the changing family dynamic
A recurring theme across the films is the growing distance between mothers and their partners after childbirth. Fathers are variously portrayed as absent, dismissive or unable to understand the changes their partners are experiencing.
In Nightbitch, a mother begins to believe she is transforming into a dog, while her husband struggles to recognise the person she has become. In Die My Love, Jackson’s behaviour and prolonged absences deepen Grace’s isolation. In Nightborn, a Finnish mythology-inspired horror film, a mother’s fears about her unusual child are dismissed even as the story moves into supernatural territory.
These fantastical elements give physical form to experiences that are often difficult to express: feeling alienated from one’s own child, losing an established identity and becoming estranged from a partner who does not share the same daily responsibilities.
The films also challenge the expectation that mothers should always trust their instincts. When a woman’s concerns conflict with the views of her husband or medical professionals, intuition can become a source of further anxiety rather than reassurance.
A cultural shift in how motherhood is portrayed
The darker depiction of motherhood reflects a wider willingness to discuss experiences that were once kept private. Online communities devoted to parental regret and burnout have attracted audiences seeking accounts that differ from conventional narratives of family happiness. Social media trends have also given frustrated mothers new ways to express emotions that might previously have been difficult to acknowledge publicly.
Whether contemporary motherhood has become more isolating or women simply have more opportunities to tell their stories remains an open question. The growing presence of female filmmakers may be part of the explanation. Women directed 26.8% of films selected at major international film festivals in 2024, up from 18.2% in 2015, according to figures cited in the original report.
The contrast with Rosemary’s Baby is telling. Based on a novel by Ira Levin and directed by Polanski, the 1968 film ultimately returns to the power of the maternal bond, despite the protagonist’s betrayal and suffering.
The newer films are less willing to treat that bond as an inevitable source of redemption. By blending horror with the realities of postpartum life, they bring anxieties about exhaustion, identity and isolation into a genre traditionally associated with monsters and supernatural threats.
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