While I will fully admit this is one of the better episodes, the ending was absolutely ridiculous. Weirdly abrupt, which would have worked I think, but not in the way it was scripted. The overall storyline is good (albeit very much a page from the book of Misery), but the flow of the episode is a bit odd. I'm thinking ITD might just stick with different variations of Pooka! - that's the only one that really hit the mark. The main actresses had good chemistry, and Tina Majorino is legitimately creepy. I think her previous "good girl" roles lended a hand in making her character that much more disturbing.
29 Reviews
I overall liked it, but...
edhuds0n18 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
...it is a mashup of "Misery" and previous crazy-woman-wants-my-baby movies. However, after more than a century of talkies, the vast majority of movies are similar to at least some other product(s) -- i.e., when it comes to movies, the old adage is largely true that "there is nothing new under the sun."
All that aside, **** SPOILERS ****
I concur with other reviewers that... 1.Tina Majorino was superb as the villain! In a lot of ways, she carried this movie.
2. When it comes to pacing, the exposition and climax/denouement were good, but the rising action could have used more baking powder. In other words, the slow burn was just too slow. However, I would advise the prospective viewer to resist the urge to fast forward. Doing so results in not fully understanding the ending, as is obvious from previous reviews.
3. This is one of the better episodes in the "Into The Dark" series.
I disagree with some of the other reviewers... **** Again, SPOILERS **** 1. Killing the cat: Although I do not take this action lightly (it was a horrible thing to do), it was absolutely central to Valerie's ruse which led to her final -- and this time, successful -- escape plan. After suffering increasingly severe punishments from Jenny with each previous attempt, knowing that her time was running out, and discovering just how psychologically damaged Jenny was, Valerie could not afford to "miss" on another escape effort. BTW, that blood-drinking cat was evil.
2. Character Development / Portrayals: There are those who said the most sympathetic character was the villain (who stalked and killed countless other pregnant women, along with killing Tom, Riley, and her own parents). However, the protagonist (whose only revealed transgression was cheating on her husband -- again, not taken lightly -- and choosing to carry the love child to term) was deemed as "unlikable." I will not pass judgments on other reviewers or assume to know anyone else's motives, but simply say that I disagree. Further, I appreciate when characters are portrayed as more realistic -- i.e., the protagonist has real flaws like regular people, and the villain is given a backstory to show why she chose such a violent path.
3. The Ending: Subtle subplot throughout this movie was Valerie's coming to grips with being a mother and especially to this baby, who was conceived through adultery. She did not want to know the baby's gender (even though she was due in less than a month), had not picked a name, did not want to assemble the crib, was having nightmares about the baby, and feared Tom was going to leave her. Jenny's recipe box of victims even highlighted this. Through her ordeal, she cemented her maternal bond. At the midway mark, she promised the baby they would escape. These were the first soothing words she said to the baby. It was powerful that before her last escape attempt, Valerie whispered the two candidate names to the baby. Then at the end of the movie, she spoke the name where the audience could hear and kissed the baby.
All that aside, **** SPOILERS ****
I concur with other reviewers that... 1.Tina Majorino was superb as the villain! In a lot of ways, she carried this movie.
2. When it comes to pacing, the exposition and climax/denouement were good, but the rising action could have used more baking powder. In other words, the slow burn was just too slow. However, I would advise the prospective viewer to resist the urge to fast forward. Doing so results in not fully understanding the ending, as is obvious from previous reviews.
3. This is one of the better episodes in the "Into The Dark" series.
I disagree with some of the other reviewers... **** Again, SPOILERS **** 1. Killing the cat: Although I do not take this action lightly (it was a horrible thing to do), it was absolutely central to Valerie's ruse which led to her final -- and this time, successful -- escape plan. After suffering increasingly severe punishments from Jenny with each previous attempt, knowing that her time was running out, and discovering just how psychologically damaged Jenny was, Valerie could not afford to "miss" on another escape effort. BTW, that blood-drinking cat was evil.
2. Character Development / Portrayals: There are those who said the most sympathetic character was the villain (who stalked and killed countless other pregnant women, along with killing Tom, Riley, and her own parents). However, the protagonist (whose only revealed transgression was cheating on her husband -- again, not taken lightly -- and choosing to carry the love child to term) was deemed as "unlikable." I will not pass judgments on other reviewers or assume to know anyone else's motives, but simply say that I disagree. Further, I appreciate when characters are portrayed as more realistic -- i.e., the protagonist has real flaws like regular people, and the villain is given a backstory to show why she chose such a violent path.
3. The Ending: Subtle subplot throughout this movie was Valerie's coming to grips with being a mother and especially to this baby, who was conceived through adultery. She did not want to know the baby's gender (even though she was due in less than a month), had not picked a name, did not want to assemble the crib, was having nightmares about the baby, and feared Tom was going to leave her. Jenny's recipe box of victims even highlighted this. Through her ordeal, she cemented her maternal bond. At the midway mark, she promised the baby they would escape. These were the first soothing words she said to the baby. It was powerful that before her last escape attempt, Valerie whispered the two candidate names to the baby. Then at the end of the movie, she spoke the name where the audience could hear and kissed the baby.
Delivered
bobcobb30116 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I think we fans of Into the Dark like punishing ourselves because these movies rarely deliver and yet we keep coming back.
Like so many before, if it stopped a half hour earlier it would have been fine. It just dragged and dragged. You can't have the bad guy in power for that long.
Like so many before, if it stopped a half hour earlier it would have been fine. It just dragged and dragged. You can't have the bad guy in power for that long.
Really??
nicci197218 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
So I get some of the dislike, this plot has been down before and it had its moments where I checked the news on my phone but why the dislike for the main character? She is no different from any stereotypical pregnant character. And there are a lot of movies that portray cheating. So why was she considered a "villain"? She lost her husband AND she was being held captive with threats of death and stealing her baby. What part of that makes her actions evil? I feel like it's a black thing - what do you think?
By the way, I have a pet and it is sad to see them killed but human beings are killed too in this movie (along with the mention of babies being killed), isn't that sad?
Acting saved this one - decent yet unoriginal
Howling_at_the_Moon_Reviews17 November 2022
Don't go into this thinking you're going to see something you've never seen before, because you aren't. However, this was still entertaining.
Also just a side note to start... I know this is a series and all, whatever, but the trailer showed way too much and if you have not already I would encourage you to not watch it before viewing.
The best part about this by far is the acting. Both leading ladies do an excellent job. The mother displays great high emotion and the crazy girl has an eerie sweetness about her that is finessed and unsettling. If it wasn't for these two this would have not been even nearly as successful as it moderately was.
The story as a whole was engaging and kept my attention. Before the climax it started to feel repetitive and a tad belabored but switched it up before it got too bad. Now sure, Stephen King did not invent holding someone captive or hobbling or any of that... but the obvious parallels were a bit derivative. Not to mention many other classic tropes and cliches.
Im giving this a 5.5 and the lack of originality really makes me want to round down, but I do honestly think that these women carried this and kept it afloat so for that I am going to give it a 6. Would recommend but not fervently.
Also just a side note to start... I know this is a series and all, whatever, but the trailer showed way too much and if you have not already I would encourage you to not watch it before viewing.
The best part about this by far is the acting. Both leading ladies do an excellent job. The mother displays great high emotion and the crazy girl has an eerie sweetness about her that is finessed and unsettling. If it wasn't for these two this would have not been even nearly as successful as it moderately was.
The story as a whole was engaging and kept my attention. Before the climax it started to feel repetitive and a tad belabored but switched it up before it got too bad. Now sure, Stephen King did not invent holding someone captive or hobbling or any of that... but the obvious parallels were a bit derivative. Not to mention many other classic tropes and cliches.
Im giving this a 5.5 and the lack of originality really makes me want to round down, but I do honestly think that these women carried this and kept it afloat so for that I am going to give it a 6. Would recommend but not fervently.
Does Stephen King get royalties from this?
Couchkik205 July 2020
Horror Movies are always somehow inspired by others. It can be an hommage for sure. But when you basically replace the injured writer and his due book by a pregnant woman with her due baby, and then rip off not one but two of the most emblematic scenes of the original (MISERY in case you wondered) it shows a very sad lack of imagination. It's a shame because Tina Majorino's performance is very solid and the concept could have been pushed in many original ways.
This would likely make my top 3-5 favorite Into the Dark pictures and is an above average addition to the horror genre
kevin_robbins4 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Delivered (2020)is another Into the Dark horror movie I recently watched for free on Hulu. The movie focuses on a pregnant mom and her husband who attend pregnancy classes and make friends with another lady in the class. When the couple decide to meet the lady outside of the class it may be the last time the couple are ever seen again. This movie is directed by Emma Tammi (The Wind) and stars Natalie Paul (You), Tina Marjorino (Napoleon Dynamite), Michael Cassidy (Batman vs Superman) and Micah Joe Parker (Wait). The storyline for this wasn't bad and has a Misery feel to it. This isn't as good as Misery, as there were a couple kill scenes that could have been better (they should have shown the ax kill scene); however, there were some brutal sequences that caused me to cringe. This would likely make my top 3-5 favorite Into the Dark pictures and is an above average addition to the horror genre. I'd score this a solid 6/10 and recommend giving it a viewing.
Crap
vallonella15 November 2021
Not bad
tommymoses-8211011 May 2020
A cheap copy of misery
QuadNik21 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
So let's get straight to the point. Two typical traits of bad bargain horror movies; when the victim had a chance to get away she didn't finish off the villain and then the lovely cat had to die horribly. And yes, the husband dying upset me too. But killing the cat deserves a one star rating!
Tropes and what in the world?
MsHoneyBee13 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This was promising, as many Into The Dark episodes are...
Spoilers ahead!
I'll start with the good:
I absolutely loved Tina Majorino. 3 stars for her! I found her convincing and her character was well acted. The direction was nice, not perfect. There were so many places that could have used wide shots, but nowadays everyone loves extreme close ups on random objects and body parts. The idea was interesting, but being a true crime lover, I've seen the "woman/nurse steals babies" storyline plenty. I found all the male actors convincing as well.
The bad and the ugly:
Typical tropes: stopping to talk and hug instead of escaping, monologging in order to share info, predictability (I'll speak more on one specific event later), attacking the killer but not killing them to ensure your escape...
Tropes aside, I wanna address the men in the movie. Loved 'em both and this woman, Val, was not worthy of either of them, honestly. She was cheating on her husband and Riley was clearly so in love with her and wanted their baby. Val was a mess and her actions basically brought them both to their deaths. I literally hated her the whole time which made this movie hard to stomach. The mens blind love for her literally caused them to die. Her husband was too caught up "checking on her" to see an ax getting slammed into his head. Then Riley is too busy professing his love for her and the baby to notice Jenny coming in behind them...
I understand this is a movie about mothers, and the idea is that women are strong, but I find it appalling that two perfectly capable men had to die in this film. Fathers, husbands and boyfriends play important roles in a women's experience through motherhood, so destroying them wasn't necessary. Sure, maybe she'll save him to show how strong she is, but all the daddies are dead now. Pointless.
Lastly on the men, I knew that Riley was the dad. It was very obvious and predictable. And why did Jenny say she was going to "take care" of him when she only took care of Val's cell phone by throwing it into the lake?
The ending didn't suck, so to speak... the mommy got away, had her baby... yeah yeah yeah, but I don't like how the weird visions weren't addressed. I'm not sure how I wanted them to be dealt with but I had an empty feeling with them...
I had a funny moment: at the end Val told Jenny to die and I involuntarily screamed, "kill her if you want her to die!" lol.
The only thing that bugged me about the end was what Val said. Why did they think it was important for her to hold the baby and say it's name? How does that conclude and tie everything together??
I would not recommend this movie.
Spoilers ahead!
I'll start with the good:
I absolutely loved Tina Majorino. 3 stars for her! I found her convincing and her character was well acted. The direction was nice, not perfect. There were so many places that could have used wide shots, but nowadays everyone loves extreme close ups on random objects and body parts. The idea was interesting, but being a true crime lover, I've seen the "woman/nurse steals babies" storyline plenty. I found all the male actors convincing as well.
The bad and the ugly:
Typical tropes: stopping to talk and hug instead of escaping, monologging in order to share info, predictability (I'll speak more on one specific event later), attacking the killer but not killing them to ensure your escape...
Tropes aside, I wanna address the men in the movie. Loved 'em both and this woman, Val, was not worthy of either of them, honestly. She was cheating on her husband and Riley was clearly so in love with her and wanted their baby. Val was a mess and her actions basically brought them both to their deaths. I literally hated her the whole time which made this movie hard to stomach. The mens blind love for her literally caused them to die. Her husband was too caught up "checking on her" to see an ax getting slammed into his head. Then Riley is too busy professing his love for her and the baby to notice Jenny coming in behind them...
I understand this is a movie about mothers, and the idea is that women are strong, but I find it appalling that two perfectly capable men had to die in this film. Fathers, husbands and boyfriends play important roles in a women's experience through motherhood, so destroying them wasn't necessary. Sure, maybe she'll save him to show how strong she is, but all the daddies are dead now. Pointless.
Lastly on the men, I knew that Riley was the dad. It was very obvious and predictable. And why did Jenny say she was going to "take care" of him when she only took care of Val's cell phone by throwing it into the lake?
The ending didn't suck, so to speak... the mommy got away, had her baby... yeah yeah yeah, but I don't like how the weird visions weren't addressed. I'm not sure how I wanted them to be dealt with but I had an empty feeling with them...
I had a funny moment: at the end Val told Jenny to die and I involuntarily screamed, "kill her if you want her to die!" lol.
The only thing that bugged me about the end was what Val said. Why did they think it was important for her to hold the baby and say it's name? How does that conclude and tie everything together??
I would not recommend this movie.
Horrendous!
Pnkprinses3092 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Animal cruelty, bad writing, bad characters, rip off of a better movie, doesn't make sense at all!! The ending was ridiculous, especially killing an innocent cat all over this stupid plot of a crazy lady who could have had a baby some other way. They never explained what happened the other women either, just their cars.
"Misery" revisited
candyjamzusa12 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Oh my gosh... There is another 16 minutes left in this movie and It reminds me extensively of "Misery". The only difference is that the mother has some true freedoms around the house to explore and discovers that her capturer is a victim of horrible circumstances. She wants a baby so desperately because hers was ripped from her violently by her parents. She has already taken the lives of two men and is close to delivering the newborn. Where does it go from here??
Misery much?
pisces-3733011 August 2020
This is just Misery.
atwiththestars20 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The title says it all. This is the book/movie Misery, but with a pregnant lady. Shame that the acting, writing and production is overall pretty good, but the story is just a lame rip off of a classic. Don't bother with this.
A very poor and stupid rip-off of Misery
patrickfilbeck23 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Why doesn't teh victim kill her avducter when she can? Why doesn't she just stab her? Why does she have to sit on the floor covered in cat blood? Why cant' she say to the man which wants to rescue her "watcch out for the crazy woman"? Why o why do people like the writer of this screenplay get jobs? Questions over questions.
Kind of familiar, but mostly fine - yet ultimately unnecessary
I_Ailurophile17 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I don't mind that 'Delivered' relies on the trope of the psychopathic captor. Everyone points to 'Misery,' which - sure, I get it. But that's not the only narrative in the world to pursue this thread, nor the only one to do it well. So I'm willing to give others a chance, too.
I think the lead actresses are pretty good, especially Tina Majorino as the desperately unwell Jenny. Majorino absolutely sells Jenny's cold calculation, as well as her unhinged outbursts. She's fun to watch.
At no point did 'Delivered' totally have me hooked, but I was enjoying it well enough - up to a point.
The animal cruelty shown at the climax is unwelcome, and genuinely gratuitous - because it is also absolutely unnecessary. Val had an opportunity 15 minutes earlier in the movie to kill Jenny, after Riley freed the anchor point for her chains. And instead she ran. Why? Because common sense is forbidden for characters in a movie like this, presumably. And because if she had killed Jenny right then, this feature would have lost an opportunity for more bloodshed.
'Delivered' was on its way to being a reasonably entertaining, if familiar, thriller. But one bad writing choice begets another, and producers apparently decided this needed an arbitrarily longer runtime. I had high hopes for this before I watched it, but they were dashed. And now I'm upset that I wasted my time.
I think the lead actresses are pretty good, especially Tina Majorino as the desperately unwell Jenny. Majorino absolutely sells Jenny's cold calculation, as well as her unhinged outbursts. She's fun to watch.
At no point did 'Delivered' totally have me hooked, but I was enjoying it well enough - up to a point.
The animal cruelty shown at the climax is unwelcome, and genuinely gratuitous - because it is also absolutely unnecessary. Val had an opportunity 15 minutes earlier in the movie to kill Jenny, after Riley freed the anchor point for her chains. And instead she ran. Why? Because common sense is forbidden for characters in a movie like this, presumably. And because if she had killed Jenny right then, this feature would have lost an opportunity for more bloodshed.
'Delivered' was on its way to being a reasonably entertaining, if familiar, thriller. But one bad writing choice begets another, and producers apparently decided this needed an arbitrarily longer runtime. I had high hopes for this before I watched it, but they were dashed. And now I'm upset that I wasted my time.
Excellent Low Budget Horror
HarleanHayworth31 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Delivered is a very entertaining low-budget thriller. The plot is familiar - a woman wants to steal a pregnant woman's baby. However the performances of the two lead actresses make it really worth watching. Tina Majorino is wonderful as the crazy, baby obsessed captor. The movie is very reminiscent of Misery. There are some good scares and I liked the ending.
Too long and too boring
brandon-mathewson-865-29302322 August 2020
Bad ending
hugglbear10 May 2022
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