Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant (2026) Review

Mary (Hannah Lynch) is a somewhat aimless twentysomething who still lives with her mum Cynthia (Yvette Parsons). Mary is happy to coast along at life and would ideally spend her evenings watching animated tentacle porn without being bothered. When new neighbours Ann (Jackie Van Beek) and her son Boo (Arlo Green) move in, a chance meeting between Boo and Mary unexpectedly ticks her particular freak boxes and unexpectedly winds up with her becoming pregnant via zero physical contact but as result of getting splattered by a spray of ejaculate from several feet away. Confronted with this sudden, life changing set of circumstances, Mary is adamant that the last thing she wants is a child but this is no ordinary foetus and matters are about to get far stranger. And gloopier…

The gross, amusing short Help, I’m Alien Pregnant from the Thunderlips writing/directing team of Sean Wallace and Jordan Mark Windsor transforms into the gross, amusing feature film Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant, with original lead Lynch back in the role of the increasingly suffering Mary and Arlo Green replacing the short’s Arlo Gibson as Boo. Movie Boo is more awkward and more sympathetic that the irresponsible Short Film Boo but both of them are initially as useless and annoying to Mary, albeit in different ways.

Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of bodily fluids dribbled, spilled, shot and vomited along the way but the body horror manages to stay the right side of nausea inducing and the effects are generally of the imaginative kind, deploying fantastical hues and outlandish depictions of what’s described as “a difficult pregnancy.” It’s the last thing Mary wants to hear and the film gets to the heart of what would be a strange and worrying situation even if you weren’t about to become a mother to a part-alien kid.

As with the short, the various medical professionals are either baffled or too busy trying to stick to procedure to provide any sort of comfort or suitable advice, although in this feature-length instance the visit to the hospital takes less eventual precedence in the plot and there’s a lack of follow-up from the healthcare or law enforcement agencies save for a chat between Mary and a kind cop that paves the way for a final act where a home birth becomes the only option.

In between the spreading rashes and the puking, Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant is surprisingly sweet and makes a number of valid points about how young people deal with such a drastic change in their circumstances. Its observations about how parents moddlycoddle their offspring is amusing and the home lives of both Boo and Mary – one shut in a bedroom playing video games all day, the other happy with a supply of snacks and their own safe space – may strike a chord with many. Their relationship with their single parents is often a spiky one but it’s clear there’s real love underneath it all and all four join forces when matters come to head, aided by a couple of unflappable paramedics, one of whom is the brilliant Karen O’Leary from the excellent Wellington Paranormal.

Yes, there are serious points to be made but the Thunderlips duo knows that the messages land so much better if you’re laughing along at the same time and the comedic talent on display ensures regular chuckles and a number of bona fide belly laughs. The featured foursome bring their A-game here and the deadpan treatment of the subject matter only serves to make it funnier still. Lynch is perfect in the lead, her surly demeanour slowly giving way to show her vulnerable side although her reluctance at assuming any kind of motherhood is carried through in a realistic way right to the very end. Also, there’s a welcome blow delivered to the cinematic trope of the transformative joys of parenthood.

Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant continues the fine Kiwi tradition of gooey horror comedies which potentially push the boundaries of bad taste. In this case, there’s no need to worry. Even though Peter Jackson’s micro-budgeted classic is seen briefly on a television screen, drinking of chuck is not featured and, in keeping with Mary herself, the viewer doesn’t have to wade through too much mucus to discover the warm heart beating underneath the story’s abrasive exterior.

Movie Rating:

Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant trailer