Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant review – slime and silliness in amusing New Zealand comedy horror

Mucus, alien gristle, a tentacle-bearing penis and, of course, the pregnancy of the title are all borne with deadpan calmness in this underplayed comedy

In this amusingly silly exercise in gross-out body horror and bathos from New Zealand, thirtysomething underachiever Mary (Hannah Lynch) finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after shy neighbour Boo (Arlo Green) ejaculates on her in the communal laundry room with his tentacle-bearing alien penis (hence the self-explanatory title). We never quite find out why Boo has such outre sex organs, but nothing here should be overthought since it is all about setting up moments where the New Zealand cast react with deadpan calmness (or at best mild annoyance) to the most bizarre circumstances, as if it’s all just another Tuesday on South Island.

Fortunately, the cast is well up for serving this sort of underplayed comedy, especially supporting players Yvette Parsons and Jackie van Beek, as Mary and Arlo’s single mums Cynthia and Ann respectively. For example, somewhere towards the end (and don’t worry, there’s nothing to spoil here), Cynthia gets a little het up about Mary farting too much, after a nest of mucus, tissue and alien gristle shoots out of Mary’s nether regions. Ann, on the other hand, gets quite concerned about the mess all this is making of her immaculate flat, and keeps apologising for the disorder to anyone who shows up, including unflappable paramedics Sofia (Karen O’Leary) and Sophie (Ariadne Baltazar).

Is it all meant to be a parable about the anxieties of single motherhood and the changes pregnancy wreaks on the female body? Yes, sure, if you want. But subtext is less the point than slow burns and slime, and that honest directness make the end result rather winning.