American Horror Story: twelfth season on the anxieties of pregnancy, with the surprise Kim Kardashian

For a decade the horror anthology has established itself in the serial panorama American horror story has accustomed us to the best (Murder House, Coven) as in the worst case (Double show, Roanoke). For the first time in twelve seasons, Ryan Murphy has left his post as showrunner. Newcomer Halley Feiffer is tasked with adapting the novel “Delicate Condition,” written by Danielle Valentine. This slow-burn film follows the descent into hell of Anna Alcott, an actress who is struggling to have a child.

After a miscarriage and yet another IVF, she succeeds, but her joy is short-lived. She feels haunted, experiences intense physical changes, and thinks an evil entity is looking for her baby. The series takes up this premise, with Emma Roberts, a familiar face of AHSin the main role.

Pregnancy anxiety is a recurring theme in the horror genre, such as Rosemary’s Baby (1968). The writer Danielle Valentine explains what inspired her Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979) for his story:

“It’s a little ironic that a group of men looked for the scariest thing they could think of, and came up with the idea that there might be something growing in your body, that you have no control over, that does these things to you. things. , and eventually it comes out of you. Basically, they just wrote a story about pregnancy.”

The news is that from the novel to its adaptation, including the production (Jessica Yu and Jennifer Lynch give their aesthetic touch to the season), AHS Delicate count the thinkers, who place this season on the side of the female gaze. And it works quite well if you’re a fan of time-consuming psychological thrillers.

In the body and mind of a pregnant woman

Anna Alcott is certainly not a composition role for Emma Roberts: she herself is a famous actress, she recently gave birth to a baby boy, while continuing his career in this privileged and carnivorous environment. And it’s no easy task: in the series, Anna juggles her appointments at the fertility clinic, her insecurities pushed aside by her loved ones, and the promotion of her latest film, which could win her an Oscar and boost her career. career like never before. . The series transcribes both disturbing bodily changes what Anna is going through (bleeding teeth, loose nails or more simply, a persistent pimple on her face that haunts her) and what’s on her mind.

Physical alerts force Anna to see her gynecologist again, which is not exactly reassuring. She also feels spied on, by an obsessive fan or by something even more worrying… Behind her is the façade of her understanding husband, her husband, Dex, doesn’t believe her, and he’s not her only one . No one around her takes her seriously. He is told to rest, that the hormones and medications are playing tricks on him… A terribly frustrating situation to consider gas lightingwhich will speak to many women and in particular to those who have lived the experience of pregnancy. You have to have a strong heart to watch AHS Delicate who takes the scalpel on issues such as obstetric violence (the scariest scenes), miscarriage or perinatal bereavement.

Kim K, the pleasant surprise

Faced with a solid Emma Roberts in the complicated role of a woman whose sufferings we do not listen to, we were curiously awaiting the performance of Kim Kardashian, a newcomer to the glam and bloody world ofAmerican horror story. So far the star has stood out mostly in her reality shows about her family. She plays Siobhan Corbyni, Anna’s PR and best friend. And from the first dialogue (“Tell the Daniels to suck my clit!”), it’s like a fish in water! Her scenes with Emma Roberts wake us up, in the heart of a thriller that sometimes lacks rhythm. Surrounded by public relations people, Kim K takes evident pleasure in embodying this half-comforting, half-worrying boss figure. We are no longer wary of the arrival of another celebrity, Cara Delevingne, who struggles to establish herself in a more subtle role as an unidentified villain.

Trans actress Mj Rodriguez also joins AHS this season, as Nicolette Smith, a housekeeper and new mother. If her character is not explicitly trans (for the moment the rest of the season will air in 2024), the introductory scene, which sees her expressing milk in front of Anna, necessarily has something political at a time when transphobia is raging . AHS Delicate it is therefore part of the continuity ofa horror series that has always given pride of place to female characters.