That the film doesn't bother to have any fun with its otherwise farcical tone is a shame as trying as hard as the film does to come up with credibility when all they have is camp only makes the final product that much worse. Rather, Cassar's film takes itself so seriously and genuinely yearns to be a somber drama that it just turns into a plodding and rather boring affair instead of pure trashy fun. And yet, this familiar story of seduction offers nothing new by way of cheap thrills or even openly ridiculous tension. One might think, given these circumstances, that When the Bough Breaks might be a bit of a relief to the onslaught of tentpoles and big-budget/high concept offerings the summer movie season has just delivered in that it is (technically) an original story that remains just familiar enough to attract the necessary audience to justify its existence-not to mention it's a movie mostly made to cater to adults. Everything feels rather staged and mostly inauthentic save for a single character who seems to be the only one in this universe within which such movies as this take place that understands real struggle while everyone else walks around-money being no object-without a care in the world.
Director Jon Cassar has worked on many a television series which makes sense because When the Bough Breaks is very much along the lines of what the Lifetime network routinely produces. In other circumstances the details of her troubled past would inspire someone to seek help for her, but here they’re merely a splat of info overload designed to further the preposterous plot.It is evident from the word go that When the Bough Breaks is campy trash, but the most critical question campy trash always has to answer is whether or not it's fun campy trash. But mainly he provides the “aha!” backstory on the increasingly problematic Anna. Williams, playing a friend of John’s who does investigative work, makes a few hilariously sudden appearances just when he’s needed. In a throwaway part as John’s rival at the law firm, Romany Malco gets to wear well-tailored suits. The human characters are barely more fleshed out than the sacrificial feline. He telegraphs Anna’s muddled malevolence - most egregiously in the ample attention he pays Laura’s elderly cat, who’s rather charmingly named Miss Havisham and clearly won’t go gentle into that good night. Working from a screenplay by Jack Olsen that’s constructed from recycled ideas, cheap shots and zero compassion, director John Cassar spotlights his able cast’s good looks, along with some striking Louisiana locations. Practiced in the art of self-help affirmations, she’s not taking no for an answer. Once the Taylors have made her comfy in their guesthouse, Anna makes the moves on John.
Her twitchy fiancé (Theo Rossi) is a red flag to John or anyone else paying attention, but Laura is so eager to start a family, and so convinced that Anna’s the answer to her prayers, that soon the two women are bonding over the embryo implantation procedure and going to yoga classes together.
Anna ( Jaz Sinclair) first appears in pastel pink with the crinkly smile of a good Samaritan.