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As if to prove that body horror is in fashion, Sundance 2026’s Midnight lineup features not one but two films that find new ways for the human body to repulse. Whereas Saccharine lambasted diet culture with a personal touch, New Zealand horror comedy Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant instead wields an extraterrestrial pregnancy for body horror laughs in a sweet tale of millennial malaise.
Mary (Hannah Lynch) is a perfect depiction of a millennial underachiever who prefers to spend her days on the couch watching tentacle hentai and still lives with her overly supportive, enabling mum, Cynthia (Yvette Parsons). Mum is so supportive that she nudges her unambitious daughter to seek out the new neighbor she’s heard has a deformed penis. When Mary awkwardly meets the new neighbor, Boo (Arlo Green), a clumsy double masterbation act involving his tentacled junk instead leads to projectile ejaculation that gets Mary alien pregnant.
That insane sentence sums up the cheeky type of horror-comedy that directors Sean Wallace and Jordan Mark Windsor, aka filmmaking duo THUNDERLIPS, have in store, a strange blend of mumblecore slacker comedy and gross-out body horror filled with tentacles, an excess of goo, and alien penises.
Dry humor and deprecating wit contrast and highlight the absurd in this feature debut. While you can expect to get well acquainted with the squirmy, tentacled “deformed penis,” Wallace and Windsor keep things grounded and relatable with the focus on Mary and her relationships with mum and Boo. Boo proves more antisocial than Mary, while Cynthia struggles with her daughter’s choice of whether to keep it. It’s through their arguments over the pregnancy and general life direction that expose the heart of this wacky comedy, with insights into the physical and emotional toll pregnancy takes on a body.
While that yields plenty of body fluid spewing and weird pregnancy side effects, Mum bides its time getting to the full body horror goods until the climax. Until then, we’re left with an alien penis and plenty of thick, mucousy goo to get us by as the film settles into a funny mumblecore rhythm.
Even then, the wild finale still feels like a bit of a succinct punchline rather than the main event. Not helping is that Mum‘s musings on the horrors of pregnancy aren’t all that deep or new, especially amidst the current body horror wave.
Where THUNDERLIPS’ feature debut finds novel ground is in its cast and charming wit. Flawed yet lovable characters worm their way into your heart, especially as their relationships deepen and maturity ensues. There’s a thoughtfulness and honesty to its explorations of unwanted pregnancy, and even more so when it comes to its protagonist. Mary is initially abrasive, but it doesn’t take long to understand why.
While Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant isn’t novel in its concept, its execution makes for a charmer. Lynch is a fiery lead, and Mary’s journey is ultimately satisfying. It’s more conversational than full-blown body horror insanity, but the filmmakers ensure that there’s no shortage of gross-out gags, birthing pods, horny tentacles, and bodily fluids to showcase just how gnarly pregnancy really is.
Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant received its world premiere at Sundance and is currently seeking distrubution.
