Goody Goody review
Not quite as painful as childbirth. At least, I assume.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Goody Goody
Directed by Raymond Creamer
Written by Raymond Creamer
Starring Samantha Robinson, Colleen Foy, Zoe Renee and Colby Hollman
Goody Goody Review
Shudder keeps cranking out the originals in 2026…which we remain thankful for. This has been their heaviest release pattern in some time. With spooky season upon us you knew that wasn’t about to change. While Goody Goody is more Average Average…it’s still nice to have another exclusive movie to sit with as a subscriber to the streaming service. And hey…there will be another Shudder original/exclusive next week anyway. And the week after that. And the week after that…and the week after that. Yeah…Shudder is delivering the content right now. Even if it isn’t all Goody Goody.
Clocking in at a slight 80 minutes or so, Goody Goody still manages to feel Longy Longy. Ok, I’m done with that. It’s all out of my system now. The story is about a problematic childbirth in a remote cabin in the woods. That’s really all the story is about, which is why it feels twice as long as it actually is. There’s nothing wrong with it…there’s just not enough to stretch it into a feature length.
Ok…maybe there’s a little more to it than that. There is a demonic presence of some kind roaming around with a special interest in the birth. But, aside from providing a few creepy moments, it’s largely overwhelmed by the long labor sequences that make up basically the entire movie. In truth, the performances of Goody Goody’s small cast are the only thing that keeps the movie from drowning in the tub with its unconventional birth plan.
Goody (Samantha Robinson) insists on having her baby out in those woods. Her husband Jayson (Colby Hollman) is dutiful about it to a fault. His sister Candace (Zoe Renee) is there to assist…even as their midwife Sarah (Colleen Foy) protests the decision. Sarah knows that being this far from a hospital is a bad idea even if Goody demands a home birth. Anything that goes wrong…they’ll be too far away from help. And…well…something goes wrong. Not that a hospital would do much to help anyway. The complications are supernatural in nature…and a demonic force removes Jayson from the proceedings before things get too far along.
The birthing scene in Goody Goody is likely to get all the attention. It’s clearly the standout scene of the movie…but it comes at a point that you may find yourself mentally checked out of the story. There simply isn’t enough to keep your attention until Goody Goody unleashes its memorable scene. Robinson and Foy do some great work here…but they can only do so much. Once you realize that the movie is never really going to leave the one remote setting…it begins to feel repetitive and a bit listless. We know there’s something strange going on inside and outside of the womb…and we know that for a long time without taking another step forward.
Now, it is very possible that some people will connect to this differently. Having never been through labor myself maybe there is a brilliant metaphor here that I’m not getting. Maybe it preys on preternatural fears that simply aren’t engrained in me or hits on scary memories some will flashback on. I can only tell you how the movie played for me. It dragged. A lot.
Scare Value
Maybe you’ll have better luck with Goody Goody than I did. I’ve seen some positive reviews around for it. If you’re already a Shudder subscriber it makes sense to at least give it a try. At only 80 minutes…you might get sucked into its slight story thanks to some strong performances. If not…hey…next week Shudder is going to bring you something new to try. Even when they (might) miss…the fact that they keep taking these shots is a very good thing.
2/5
Goody Goody Link
Streaming on Shudder
