Just in time for Mother’s Day weekend, Hulu’s Into the Dark released its latest episode, demonstrating just how frightening motherhood can be.

Despite being a bit derivative of a famous Stephen King story, “Delivered” is creepy, emotional, compelling, and probably the best installment of this Hulu series in well over a year!

Camaraderie in Motherhood
The story begins with Valerie and Tom, attending Lamaze classes and preparing for the arrival of their bundle of joy.

At one of the classes, they befriend another pregnant woman Jenny, who seems to be struggling as she’s getting ready to raise her baby without the father.

Jenny and Valerie seem to be getting a long great, and Jenny even invites her and Tom over for dinner one night. And it’s at this point, a mere 20 minutes into the film’s 80 minute runtime that everything changes!

Minor Spoilers Ahead

Revealing Her True Colors
Tom and Valerie arrive at Jenny’s for dinner, and all seems to be going well until, seemingly out of nowhere, Jenny attacks Tom (killing him) and subdues Valerie.

She then wakes up, realizing that Jenny was never pregnant, and has always intended to kidnap a pregnant woman to finally get a baby.

What follows is a disturbing tale as Valerie descends into despair, losing all hope of escape, and we see Jenny for the true psychopath she’s always been.

All of this culminates together in an ending (which we won’t dare spoil) that’s both empowering, and incredibly cringe-inducing at the same time.

Going Full Misery
There’s a fine line between homage and ripoff, and while “Delivered” certainly has elements and similar plot points from Stephen King’s “Misery”, it feels more the former than the latter.

Between Jenny evoking an Annie Wilkes-like demeanor, to even doing something similar to Valerie to prevent her from escaping, the connections are quite obvious.

And it’s because they’re so obvious that they seem very intentional. After watching another Hulu original, Castle Rock, we even saw how Annie Wilkes was as a mother, and Jenny definitely captures that essence.

Duo of Brilliant Performances
In fact, Tina Majorino’s performance is arguably the best part of the movie. While she’s definitely scary in a homicidal manner, there’s also a great deal of pain and agony in her.

Between abusive parents, and a traumatic past, having a baby of her own would solve all of her problems, at least that’s what she thinks.

She genuinely wants to be loved, and aside from her cat, she never really felt that love, which turned her into a deranged maniac. But we still can’t help but feel a little sorry for her.

However, we can’t overlook Natalie Paul’s Valerie as an equally compelling character and strong protagonist.

While being held captive, she constantly tries to find ways to escape, never becoming complacent. And in the end, it’s her own cleverness, grit, and determination that pull through.

Into the Dark really has its hits or misses. January’s “Midnight Kiss” and February’s “My Valentine” were almost unwatchable, March’s “Crawlers” was okay, April’s “Pooka Lives!” was decent, and May’s “Delivered” was the first one in a long time that was actually great!

Into the Dark is streaming exclusively on Hulu

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