In Fetal Position, a recent short film from director Joseph Yates, a man visits an abortion clinic after finding himself impregnated with an alien fetus. You know, that old story? Albeit with a sci-fi/body horror premise, Fetal Position is very much a comedy, satirizing the sociopolitical issues and arguments of abortion rights and immigration while also indulging in a bit of sophomoric slapstick and plenty of gross-out humor. There’s buckets of bodily fluids (of differing varieties) expelled in the film’s brief seven minute runtime, so bring a mop.

William Tokarsky, who appeared on both the Adult Swim series “Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell” and as the machete-wielding maniac in the network’s now-infamous “Too Many Cooks” short, stars as the film’s unwilling father-to-be-or-not-to-be. Avra Friedman, who appeared on the Starz series “Now Apocalypse”, co-stars as (apparently) both the clinic’s receptionist and resident abortionist. Per IMDb, Friedman also appeared on a few different “true crime” programs in their early career, which is admittedly much more interesting to me, but probably not as interesting as it would be to my wife (who has watched all of those shows.) Rounding out the cast is Greg Wattkins (stunt performer and actor who has worked on “The Walking Dead”, “Stranger Things”, and Black Panther) as a police officer assigned to protect the clinic from the angry and potentially violent protestors gathered outside the building. 

 

Yates (also known as “Re-Animated Frankenstein” on HBO’s “Lovecraft Country”), who has worked in varying capacities on a multiple of projects both small and large, shot Fetal Position in Georgia in March 2020, just as lockdowns for Covid-19 were beginning throughout the US. The film made the festival circuit a few years later, screening at Fantastic Fest 2023, Another Hole in the Head 2023, Knoxville Horror Fest (Special Jury Prize – Winner), and Counterpunch Film Festival 2024 (Best of Festival – Winner), amongst others. Now, Fetal Position has been made available to watch on YouTube. Yes, a link to the film has been included at the conclusion of this review.

As with any other human being on this planet, I’m sure that Yates has their own opinions and viewpoints on these particular issues. They’ve “taken a side”, as some might say. It’s just as possible, and even probable, that Yates attempted to infuse that viewpoint into the film’s tone and narrative. However, whether intentional or not, I felt that the film took something of a “middle-lane” approach; not truly taking any “sides”, while fairly mocking all parties (and their hypocrisies) in the process. Someway, somehow, Fetal Position is going to offend someone… and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

As noted in the film’s closing credits, Yates is currently working on adapting Fetal Position into a feature-length film, which you can learn more about at FetalMovie.com. If I’m allowed to speak candidly (and as it’s my website, I very much am allowed), I’m not entirely optimistic about the idea. While I did find the short to be quite entertaining and humorous, I do worry about how far the concept can be stretched before becoming diluted or, worse, tiresome. Then again, who knows? I could easily be proven wrong. When it is eventually released, I’ll still give it a view.

As previously mentioned, Fetal Position is currently available to watch on YouTube and has been linked below. If you do watch the film, please share your thoughts and opinions in our “Comments” section.