I decided to watch The Seed because it fit in with my theme for the week. I also didn’t remember this getting as much buzz as a Shudder original would usually get. It was released earlier this year onto the service and what little I did hear died down fairly quickly. I think that’s a shame because I enjoyed the movie except for the ending. The ending almost made me through my hands up in frustration, rather than just lightly yelling a couple of expletives.
The Seed was written and directed by Sam Walker. This was also Walker’s directorial debut and his way of directing the movie was great. Most of my issues with the movie have to do with the ending. The way the ending was done served the viewers a little bit of a swerve then corrected it and then went for a different swerve that essentially served the same purpose but in a different way. The way the three leads were written gave the actors a lot to work with while playing them.
Lucy Martin, Chelsea Edge, and Sophie Vavasseur are absolutely fantastic as the three leads. Martin as Deidre and Edge as Charlotte serve as most of the conflict for the first part of the movie. They way that the two characters differ in outlooks on almost everything leads to most of the initial conflict even before the alien stuff happens. The alien just exacerbates the tension between all three. Vavasseur does great work as the friend that tries to keep the peace while worrying about her dad’s house. All three of them do a great job with the journey their characters have to go on.
The creature effects in the movie are outstanding. I didn’t know what to expect from the first look of the alien and it kept me on my toes til the end. The effects for those affected by the alien are fantastic too. They are able to make them keep the human form but alter it just enough to make you uneasy. The music from Lucrecia Dalt is great. She’s able to crank up the unease with her score.
The Seed is a solid alien body horror movie that falters at the end. I didn’t expect the body horror when the movie started but once it started the name of the movie made so much more sense. Body horror is something that if done well it makes a hell of an impact and this did the body horror really well. There’s also some social commentary about social media and influencers, which was fun. You can stream the movie on Shudder. I give The Seed 7 pairs of sunglasses out of 10.