Haley Bennett Plays a Woman Battling a Dangerous Habit in Eerie Scene from Swallow
Haley Bennett is hiding a dark secret in her latest role.
In a PEOPLE exclusive clip of the film Swallow, Bennett stars as Hunter, a newly-pregnant housewife who dedicates her life to doting on her husband, Richie (Austin Stowell) and keeping their home.
Despite the picture-perfect setup, Hunter struggles with Richie’s increasing demands for perfection as well as her controlling in-laws.
IFC Films Haley Bennett in Swallow
As the pressure starts to mount, the clip shows Hunter developing a dangerous addiction, pica, that has her compulsively swallow inedible objects like marbles and other life-threatening objects — all while struggling to hide a dark secret from her past.
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The film, directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis, also stars Denis O’Hare and Elizabeth Marvel. Bennett serves as an executive producer. Swallow premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival where Bennett, 32, won the award for best actress.
Variety critic Peter Debruge praised her performance in the thriller, writing, “Bennett delivers a masterful performance of micro-calibrated precision, in which Hunter presents herself as happy, but seems far away in social situations, a lifelike doll waiting to be called upon. She embodies an old-fashioned, mid-20th-century ideal of doting passivity, reminiscent of January Jones in early seasons of “Mad Men,” where the happy homemaker’s true desires are so carefully masked as to be undetectable at first.”
Bennett made her on-screen debut in the Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant film Music & Lyrics. She also starred in The Girl on the Train, The Magnificent Seven and Marley & Me with Jennifer Aniston.
Swallow opens in theaters and is available on VOD today.
