Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Clock’ on Hulu, an All-Over-the-Road Satirical Psycho-Thriller Held Together by Dianna Agron

Former Glee star Dianna Agron stars in Clock (now on Hulu), a psychodramatic horror-thriller whose title references the “biological clock” that ticks away somewhere in the insides of all women, reminding them that it’s time to have a damn baby, for crying out loud. Writer-director Alexis Jacknow developed the genre hybrid via a 2020 short film, and ended up with a feature that isn’t afraid to tackle ideas about distinctively female fears and bodily autonomy – and also isn’t afraid to be more than a little bit disturbing.

CLOCK: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Closeup shot: Deviled eggs on a platter, and if I’m not mistaken, they’re topped with roe, which means Ella (Agron) is eating eggs on top of eggs. Eggs on top of eggs at a baby shower where all the women have had their own eggs successfully fertilized – except Ella. But,  gasp, she doesn’t want children, and the rest of the world deems her a lesser citizen because of it. The other women at the shower gripe about their wide variety of post-pregnancy vagina-based woes, then turn heel and rip right into Ella for not subjecting her bits to such trauma. “What do you even DO without kids?” they ask, like the horrible people they are, and we see exactly what she does in a what-does-Ella-DO-without-kids montage: She shares quiet moments with her husband, she cooks, she volunteers for charity, she receives satisfying oral sex, she gets massages, she enjoys a healthy career as a famous interior designer of big fancy resorts. THAT’S what she does. And that’s her choice, isn’t it?

Next scene: The OB-GYN’s office. Just for the annual, with the speculum and the lubricant and all the little doodad tools that freak Ella out and make her anxiously grip the armrest. Here we learn all kinds of information: Ella’s husband, Aidan (Jay Ali), is a doctor, who referred her to this OB-GYN because she’s the best OB-GYN around, even though I must say, her bedside manner is a fan on medium when it should be one of those stuffed animals that you warm up in the microwave. Ella’s mother died of breast cancer. Ella is 37 years old – and in gynecological terms, 37 is “technically geriatric.” The doc asks if Ella wants to have children, and she replies no, of course, adding that she doesn’t really have a “biological clock.” And to that, the doc says, “All women have a biological clock. Maybe yours is just broken.” Make that a fan on high. Doctors shouldn’t say anyone is “broken.” Doctors should be nice people, not jerks. She gives Ella the contact for a clinical trial to “fix” such issues, and then off Ella goes. 

We meet Ella’s father, Joseph (Saul Rubinek), who’s obsessed with their Jewish heritage and bloodlines and such, and you can already see where this is going – their ancestors go back thousands of years and survived the camps and it’s all going to end because Ella just isn’t keen on being a mom. He even has an heirloom grandfather clock that NEEDS to be passed down, tick tock, tick tock. And then he and Ella and Aidan feast on – yep – caviar. Beluga caviar, even. A delicacy. That night, Ella and Aidan get randy and when he reaches for the condom she tells him to skip it and then he says they shouldn’t forego protection just because of her father and the mere mention of the guy cold-showers the mood right quick. Aidan would love to have children but he loves Ella and therefore says he’s happy with just Ella, but she doesn’t believe him. So much pressure, from everyone, everything, everywhere, from the inside and outside, and now she’s upside-down. And so Ella hops on the clinical trial. Lies to Aidan that it’s a 10-day work trip. Ignores the uneasy vibes emanating from the facility. Meets Dr. Simmons (Melora Hardin), a reassuring woman who’s so reassuring we wonder if we should trust her. Takes the pills as prescribed. Undergoes intense psychotherapy. Starts hallucinating (yes, yikes). And all this feels like it’s ramping up to some nutty body horror but, you know, NO SPOILERS.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: What immediately comes to mind is Hulu horror-comedy Fresh, which struck a similar tone – and also was similarly inconsistent with it – while taking a different angle on feminist satire. When Ella gets to the clinical trial, there’s a nod to A Clockwork Orange that’s hard to miss. And the last time we saw gynecologist appointments framed as horror? Unforgettable French abortion drama Happening.

Performance Worth Watching: It’s a cliche to call performances like Agron gives here “brave,” but it holds true here. It’s harrowing and gutsy – psychologically speaking, occasionally physically – and Agron holds the film together when it threatens to come apart at the seams.

Memorable Dialogue: During Ella’s first consultation with Dr. Simmons:

Ella: I may be a tough case.

Dr. Simmons: You’re not a case. You’re a human being. And the best kind, too.

Ella: What kind is that?

Dr. Simmons: A woman.

Sex and Skin: A brief oral sex snippet, a not-brief-enough close-up of male genitalia.

Our Take: Agron’s quite good here, but her guidesail performance is equaled by Jacknow’s ambition. The filmmaker takes a very real problem – the distinctly feminine anxiety stemming from peer pressure to have children – and attempts to address it with a wide variety of tones: The cold open is straight horror; the baby-shower sequence is broadly comedic satire; interactions among Ella, her husband and father are the stuff of psychodrama; and scenes at the highly secretive clinical-trial center have the feel of light sci-fi. Jacknow leans heavily into psychological horror, indulging the occasional jump scare as Ella begins to hallucinate and lose her grip on reality. That development keeps us engaged and on edge, but is more of a transparent narrative manipulation – if Ella can’t trust what she’s seeing is real, how can we? And it seems inevitable that the film will exploit that conceit. I mean, what’s a movie like this without some wild twists?

Jacknow’s writing has an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink quality to it that sometimes happens with first-time feature directors, who cram all their ideas into a film because they may not get a shot at making another one. So Clock can be a bumpy ride, albeit one smoothed somewhat by Agron’s gumption. There are times when the Ella character is dictated more by plot than internal drive, but Agron’s’ ability to hold true to the core sentiment – the confusion and exasperation women feel when societal pressure undermines their individuality and autonomy – keeps the film from sinking into the mire. Jacknow hammers away with the symbolism (eggs! Swinging clock pendulums!), pulls rugs from under our feet and swerves wildly through a messy third act punctuated with some gruesome imagery. But Agron hangs on, and ultimately, we’re there with her.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Clock’s inconsistencies might TICK you off, but you’ve gotta HAND it to Agron for making the movie worth your TIME. (I apologize.) 

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.