Birth

Anna, still grieving the death of her husband Sean ten years earlier, is about to marry her boyfriend Joseph. At the engagement party a boy named Sean arrives and claims to be her late husband returned. Initially she dismisses him, but the boy speaks with uncanny knowledge of Sean and their life together, recounting tiny details and private jokes only they shared. The encounter unsettles Anna, tugging at her sense of reality and forcing her to weigh memory against possibility. Critics and relatives react with mix of curiosity and unease, while Anna tries to keep the celebration from spiraling into doubt. The moment tests her resolve to move on and forces her to confront what she believes about love and loss. Quiet, unsettling silences and pointed conversations fill the rooms as Anna's friends and family respond in varying degrees of skepticism and concern. The film uses a restrained visual palette that emphasizes emptiness and memory, turning a festive night into a pressure chamber where truth feels slippery.

Directed by Jonathan Glazer, Birth draws on an original screenplay by Milo Addica and Jean-Claude Carrière, presenting a drama that blends psychological suspense with supernatural undertones.

The film grossed roughly 23.9 million worldwide on a 20 million budget, signaling a modest yet notable return and indicating there was genuine audience interest despite mixed reviews.

Birth provoked debate over motherhood, memory, and the boundaries between life and loss. Its austere mood and Kidmans restrained performance sparked conversations about grief and identity, making the film a reference point for eerie psychological dramas and for discussions of how memory shapes desire.

Critics were divided on Birth, with praise for its atmosphere, the restraint of the direction, and Kidmans performance, while others dismissed the premise as opaque and the pacing as slow. The film examines grief and identity and the way memory can blur the line between love and obsession.