The Surrogate

Jeremy Hersh’s movie often has the feel of an academic exercise, and the fact that its characters are earnest Brooklynites doesn’t help.

Writer-director Jeremy Hersh tackles the intersection of race, sexuality, class and disability with rare nuance in this wry indie drama, which observes sharply the trappings of millennial entitlement and liberal hypocrisy.

[T]his is a finely turned exercise.

If it initially lacks momentum and oomph, the film becomes a multi-faceted look at issues surrounding surrogacy, anchored by Jasmine Batchelor's central performance as a woman forced to make a life-changing decision.

Genuinely thought-provoking and handsomely acted.

It's a brilliantly written and deftly performed morality play disguised as social satire. By the end the cracks are chasms, the arguments forensically examined, and the decision no easier to make.

Jasmine Batchelor gives one of the best performances of the year in Jeremy Hersh's The Surrogate, a smart and sensitive drama about a pregnancy surrogate who finds out the foetus will be born with Down Syndrome.

At times it's a bit of a squeeze in there, but on the whole he delivers a sensitively written, well-acted, intelligent film.

It is the complexity and credibility of Batchelor's performance that enables The Surrogate to connect on such a deep and emotional level.

The Surrogate presents diverse viewpoints and allows people to make up their own minds about the important issues that are in the film. It's the type of well-made storytelling that's very much needed in cinema right now.