The story of Clock 2023 revolves around a woman’s pursuit to fix her biological clock when society presses her to have a child. Written and directed by Alexis Jacknow, read the article to learn how the mystery of this horror thriller unfolds.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Clock’ Story
Clock begins with a spine-chilling scene where a woman, who is bleeding, hangs herself in the children’s park at night, and a toothed round gear falls from her hand. The scene shifts to a morning when Ella Patel (Dianna Agron), who is an architect, is attending one of her friends’ baby showers. Her other friends ask Ella when she will have a kid and how she spends all her time without them. Ella is seen visiting a gynecologist, whom she tells that she never wanted any children. The gynecologist tells her that maybe her biological clock is broken. The gynecologist gives Ella her number and tells her there is a trial in a clinic for this issue if she decides to call her. At the dinner table, the topic of having children is again brought up by her father, and she feels uncomfortable and leaves it. Later, she gets into a light verbal scuffle with her husband, Aidan (Jay Ali), about the same issue.
The next morning, Ella quits her dream project, where her husband thinks she is going, and he congratulates her with love. She is seen entering the clinic, which the gynecologist had earlier suggested to her. Somber music starts playing, and the whole clinic is shown. A blood sample is taken from Ella, and a bundle of forms is given to her to fill out. At this time, Dr. Elizabeth Simmons (Melora Hardin) gets in and introduces herself, tells Ella what she should expect for the coming days, and makes her comfortable. Later, Ella is shown settling in, but she does not let her husband know where she really is. The next morning, Ella is seen having a talking session with Dr. Simmons, and she shows her some cards. The things that Ella sees are noted by Dr. Simmons, and she gives Ella her medications. A similar session again begins the next day, where Ella and the doctor talk about the images she saw on the card. It is understood that her grandparents were survivors of war, and she does not want to bring a child for this reason into this horrifying world. The same night, Ella gets terrified by the clock noise in her room and runs outside. A woman whom she met while dining offers her a cigarette and tells Ella that it was her last night at the clinic. As she leaves, Ella gets scared at the sight of a tall woman whom she has seen in the card image.
Dr. Simmons takes Ella to the tank, where she has to get in and relax. Once she closes the hatch and gets in the water, she visualizes horrific images of childbirth and soon opens the hatch and gets out. Ella again sees that tall woman, slips, and hits her head on the bench. Dr. Simmons is seen comforting Ella and telling her she is making great progress. Later, when she is resting and given medication in a cup, Ella sees a dead bug, just like the image she saw on the cards. She passes on the pills, and it is seen that implantation is done to aid her pregnancy. Ella leaves the clinic and, while driving again, sees the tall woman on the road and gets scared. She returns home, and their dog gets scared of her. Ella is seen eating raw egg yolks and, later, raw eggs at night. While celebrating her birthday, Ella again sees the spider on her pregnant friend’s belly and tries to kill it. But her husband stops her from doing so, as there is no spider. Dr. Simmons calls Ella to check in, but she lies about the hallucinations and also tells her to increase the dosage of the medicine. Aidan and Ella visit her father, who is showing pictures from Ella’s childhood, and Ella discovers that the tall woman is her grandmother. She gets scared and asks her father not to talk about her grandmother, and everything goes into chaos.
The scene shifts to a night when Ella is lying in the kitchen and remembers that she left her medicine at her friend’s house. She goes there hurriedly at night and goes to the nursery to get the medicine. When her friend comes inside the nursery, which she has commissioned Ella to decorate, she finds horrific decorations, almost like a war-torn home. Ella’s friend’s water breaks at that moment, and Ella wants to see her baby. The partner of Ella’s friend comes to her rescue and throws Ella out of their home. Ella receives a call from her father that he has fallen, and she makes her way to his home. She finds her father and helps him, but again gets distracted by the grandfather clock, which is an inheritance. In a moment of frenzy, she destroys the clock. Aidan comes home, helps Ella clean up, and also promises to check on her father later. While trying to have an intimate moment, Aidan gets hurt, and when Ella tries to help her, a can of secrets opens up. It was Aidan all along who planned to send Ella to that clinic. Ella storms out of her home and makes her way to the clinic. She had a serious confrontation with Dr. Simmons and told how she manipulated her desire to have a child and forced her into believing a delusional idea. Ella is seen talking out the implant in her by using a plier, and the police arrive at the clinic. Ella makes her way out and is being chased by the police. Aidan calls her and informs her that, in a moment of rage, she has killed her father and thought it was the clock she was destroying. The police try to arrest Ella, but she commits suicide by jumping from a nearby cliff. The film ends with the scene where Ella sees a fish out of the water, a condition similar to hers.
‘Clock’ Ending
“Clock” is a psychological thriller that stresses two important issues, among many others: time and pregnancy. The director gives enough material for the audience to think about why the taboo of pressurizing a woman to have a baby must be stopped.