There is a genuinely fun concept waiting to be realized somewhere inside of the Canadian supernatural horror thriller “Son of Sara”. It’s a concept that would find the balance between being uncomfortably chilling and darkly funny. But the movie we get never fully settles on what it wants to be. At least not in a way that is coherently conveyed on the screen. It’s a shame because we see a handful of exciting glimpses of what this film could have been.

As a purely independent film, “Son of Sara” is an admirable accomplishment. It’s written, produced, directed, and edited by Houston Bone who does some interesting thing with an obviously modest budget. It’s a competently made feature that especially impresses in the practical effects department. But the movie is let down by the pieced-together story which toys with several familiar ideas without doing anything interesting with them.

Chloe Van Landschoot plays Sara, a young woman who is very pregnant – the result of a tryst with the icky Troy (Garrett Hnatiuk), who took off after their fling and hasn’t returned her calls since. Now Sara lives with her doting girlfriend Carol (Tymika Tafari), sharing a surface-level relationship that feels more performative for the camera than authentic to the story. Sara is way past her due date, so getting around has become a chore. But far more concerning is her insatiable appetite for raw ground beef, upchucking long plugs of hair, and terrifying visions that repeatedly haunt her.

But the movie takes a goofy turn when Sara unexpectedly bumps into Troy who is surprised to learn she is pregnant. She invites the jerk to her apartment while Carol is away and the two somewhat reconcile in record time. Even wackier, Troy invites Sara to his family’s farmhouse “just outside of the city” to have dinner with his mother Agnes (Jane Moffat). Of course it’s clearly a terrible idea. But in one of several mind-boggling choices, she accepts his offer.

So not only does Sara immediately let this glaringly obvious slug back into her life, but she waltzes off with him to the middle of nowhere. And as I’m sure you also expect, things go terribly wrong for her. To the tune of occult rituals, a demonic entity, and a shocking claim about her baby that shakes her to her core. The lone question – is her baby a demon child from Hell or are Troy and Agnes cult crazies who will do anything to please their malevolent master?

Sadly that question never carries much weight. That’s because it’s hard to invest in things when the entire premise is undermined by such a head-scratching setup. So much is left untold, especially regarding Troy and Agnes. Instead time is wasted on baffling inclusions, such as a random second-half sequence of meaningless nudity that distracts more than informs. Even the story’s potential thematic treatment is ultimately stripped of its voice.

Not all is bad in “Son of Sara”. There are a few slashes of black comedy that made me laugh out loud. And the film features some startling body horror that is brought to life through impressively creative practical effects work. But these things aren’t nearly enough to keep us onboard. And that’s sad to say considering the movie leaves the impression that Bone wants to continue Sara’s story in another film. I wish there was enough here to bring me back for more.