Danielle Solzman
Marianna Palka’s newest feature, Egg, offers up satirical view on parenting and some great performances to go along with it.
Risa Mickenberg’s screenplay has of commentary to offer when it comes to parenting and the decisions that come with it. Mickenberg hit a home run on her first produced screenplay. The fact that it says so much about the subject with so few cast members is impressive. On the one hand, there is Tina (Alysia Reiner) and her husband, Wayne (Gbenga Akinnagbe). The other hand sees Karen (Christina Hendricks) and her wealthy husband, Don (David Alan Basche). Finally, we have Kiki (Anna Camp), the surrogate mother of Wayne and Tina’s child.
Egg is a satirical comedy about motherhood when one gets down to the core of the film. Both Tina and Karen went to art school together and developed a friendship/rivalry as such. An 8-months pregnant Karen and Don have made a trek to visit Wayne and Tina only to learn that their friends are also expecting. Tina and Wayne have taken a different path towards pregnancy. Where Karen is carrying their child, Tina and Wayne have hired a surrogate mother in Kiki. The two have very different views when it comes to parenting. All in all, their differing viewpoints lead to a discussion on societal roles and birth in general.
“I’m not doing anything different than a gay mom or a trans mom,” Tina tells Karen. Whereas Karen finds giving birth to be “one of the most beautiful things in life.”
Once Kiki–who has come up with five phases of womanhood–enters the picture, things really get out of hand. She’s coming off of a five-year relationship with Clark. Clark just happens to be married to his wife–the mother of his five children with a sixth on the way. Then there’s the question that needs answering of whether or not Wayne in love with Kiki? It only adds to the scathing satire that has come about in the film.
Say what you will about the other four strong performances but the ever-reliable Anna Camp injects a lot her personality and sense of humor into the role of Kiki. It’s what fans have come to love from the Pitch Perfect star. Camp has become a solid performer over the years in which it makes one start to wonder as to why she hasn’t had the chance to lead a feature film.
Egg marks the third feature for director Marianna Palka, who wrote, directed, and starred in last year’s Bitch. Palka is a rising talent behind the camera so if you haven’t started paying attention to her, now would be a good time! If Bitch and Egg are any indication, the Scotland native is on a roll!
Led by solid performances, Egg offers a lot of commentary thanks to a smartly-written screenplay.
DIRECTOR: Marianna Palka
SCREENWRITER: Risa Mickenberg
CAST: Christina Hendricks, Alysia Reiner, David Alan Basche, with Gbenga Akinnagbe and Anna Camp
