Hannah (Hadley Robinson) is a ball of anxiety and trauma from a wide array of parameters. Appendage begins with an innocent dinner with Hannah’s mother and father. As she pours wine into her glass, her mother, Stacy (Deborah Rennard), takes it away from her. From there, a bodily phenomenon happens, and a slight growth appears near Hannah’s birthmark – which writer/director Anna Zlokovic slowly notes as a metaphor for repressed trauma and stress. But in all sense of the word, Hannah is trying to do the best she can.
A new relationship blossoms with her boyfriend, Kaelin (Brandon Mychal Smith), who seems hugely supportive and understanding of what she’s going through. She’s a talented fashion designer working for a rather terse and overbearing boss, but having a workmate/friend like Esther (Kausar Mohammed) eases the tension a bit. Those foundations can only work so well out in the open, whereas behind closed doors is a different story. Due to her job’s unrealistic demands, Hannah often works late nights to make sure her custom garments are just right. But all that pressure has to go somewhere, and one day, the pain near her birthmark becomes unbearable.
With some bloody revelations, out of her abdomen comes a walking/ talking Basket Case-like creature that is the physical manifestation of all her self-hatred and doubts. Let’s say it’s not particularly pleasant and unrelenting to the fact that it will always be around her. Appendage attempts to split itself into covering genres of comedy, a splash of body horror, and tackling mental health issues. While there’s an overarching reason that these things exist, the film also introduces the concepts of vanishing twin syndrome and dual DNA. It’s a very sci-fi plot point, but the film utilizes this premise best when Hannah can invest in her source of inner contention. There’s a particular part of the story where the audience discovers what happened to her in high school and how that sticks with her in her adult years.
Hannah begins to withdraw from Kaelin and Esther under the suspicion they are getting together behind her back. It’s one of the things the monster tells her, but it isn’t necessarily playing out in the way she thinks. Another good supplement to how this appendage operates is some psychic link where you don’t see things clearly. Think about how jealousy, suspicion, and insecurity clouds things, and you understand where Hannah is coming from.
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This leads to her finding an appendage support group, specifically a woman named Claudia (Emily Hampshire). She has her relationship issues concerning her now ex-husband and happens to have the space for a new friend. Hannah and Claudia hang out more, but in a twist of fate, Claudia says you need to listen to what the appendage says because they speak a modicum of truth. The film’s second half tries to dive into the more comedic elements as it balances out the bouts of drama.
Rennard does a particularly good job in scenes where Hannah has to battle with her mother over a past mistake to see there’s always time to make a change. However, Appendage doesn’t feel like it can juggle its major themes once they are placed together. Some of the dramaticism built up through the film’s first half is discarded for an invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-like set piece. It’s commendable in the fact the film doesn’t want to go particularly heavy-handed with such a weighty subject. Given this fact, much of its story is stretched beyond the capacity to land its tonal shift.
