[Film Review] Lullaby (2022)

Director John R. Leonetti’s film career spans over thirty years. He began  as a director of photography, lensing films as diverse as Child’s Play 3 (1991), The Mask (1994), Mortal Kombat (1995), and The Perfect Man (2005).

In 2007 Leonetti started working on films directed by James Wan. He worked the camera across four Wan productions: Dead Silence (2007), Death Sentence (2007), Insidious (2010), and The Conjuring (2013). In 2014 Leonetti was chosen to direct The Conjuring spin-off, Annabelle. Although it wasn’t his first director’s chair, it did kickstart a long relationship creating horror films. To date, the results of these films have varied, but how does his latest film, Lullaby, fare?

Written by duo Alex Greenfield and Ben Powell, Lullaby stars Oona Chaplin as Rachel, a new mother, who unknowingly summons Lilith after singing a song from an old book. It’s a standard premise, but amongst films that adhere to tropes, Lullaby has some spark. The most exciting being that Lullaby is another entry into the slowly expanding arena of Jewish horror. After decades of famine, in recent years the horror community has been gifted with The Vigil, The Offering and Attachment. Each explores a different aspect of the Jewish faith or tradition, and Lullaby slots in with its own unique subject matter as it delves into the legend of Lilith. A being with a variety of interpretations, here she is portrayed as a taker of children, who is summoned by an ancient incantation. Greenfield’s father was an Occult investigator and this upbringing gives the script a richness of lore and depth of knowledge. 

Lullaby’s story rests upon the validity of Rachel as a mother, but the execution is wobbly in places. Lullaby almost immediately alienates the parents in the audience with its early presentation of perfection. Thankfully, the story quickly jumps forward six months and a more recognisable parental fate is displayed. Rachel is a sleepless husk who can’t even go to the bathroom alone. Her darling infant might be cute, but he likes to scream the house down constantly. Not since Toby in Labyrinth (1986) has a baby had such a strong pair of lungs. It’s grating to see, and whilst exaggerated for the sake of the narrative, is an accurate depiction of how it feels to be a parent some days. 

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On the whole, Oona Chaplin sells the distraught mother figure, however, some of Rachel’s choices don’t quite land. The worst offender being, after her son finally goes to sleep, Rachel gets dressed up for her husband rather than catching up on the slumber she has been deprived of. Throughout Lullaby Chaplin demonstrates a quiet strength and resilience to the horrific situation put in front of her. Rachel is saved from having to go full on hysterical mother, and in a switch up to conventions, she has a somewhat supportive spouse. These subversions help to elevate Lullaby from its fellow direct-to-video peers. The material also allows Leonetti to play a little outside of the textbook, giving him a chance to tell a story with a little more flourish than some of his other offerings. 

By no means perfect, Lullaby remains one of Leonetti’s strongest directorial offerings. The story of Lilith has plenty of unexploited materials and Lullaby presents the perfect starting point for future exploration. 

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