You Are Not My Mother Is a Blend of Teen Angst and Supernatural Terror

Writing final week’s listing of Irish horror films, timed for St. Patrick’s Day viewing, made me understand simply what number of of these movies are fascinated with changeling folklore. New launch You Are Not My Mother isn’t any exception, although it elevates itself by enveloping its characters in some notably potent real-world terrors.

If the point out of changelings seems like a spoiler—nicely, please notice that the film is actually referred to as You Are Not My Mother. As you may guess, the movie unfurls from the viewpoint of the daughter within the story: Dublin teenager Char (an exquisite Hazel Doupe). Her introverted nature and famous person pupil standing have made her an outcast at college, at finest quietly consuming lunch by herself, at worst being focused by a vicious clique of imply ladies, led by the pushy Suzanne (Jordanne Jones) and the presumably homicidal Kelly (Katie White).

Char’s life could be crappy sufficient below these circumstances, however the fraught scenario at residence means there’s no escape from her distress. Her mom, Angela (Carolyn Bracken), is vulnerable to sudden temper swings and weird conduct; early within the movie, she abandons her automotive and vanishes for a interval of hours, one thing that Char’s uncle Aaron (Paul Reid) and grandmother Rita (Ingrid Craigie) face with the weary power of people that’ve been coping with a troubled beloved one for many years. Angela’s fragile psychological state is one thing she will be able to’t management and no person blames her for it, however it’s exhausting for everybody in her orbit—particularly Char, whose ache is obvious even earlier than we get a flashback to happier days when Angela was extra secure.

But! This isn’t any peculiar story of youngster angst. You Are Not My Mother telegraphs from its very first scene that there’s one thing extra to Angela’s spiraling sickness than mind chemistry. Something maybe fairly witchy. The viewers is aware of that the “birthmark” on Char’s face is definitely a burn scar, the results of a mysterious ritual Granny performed on Char as an toddler, even when it takes Char many of the film to unravel her household’s large secret. And there are different omens alongside the way in which—the bizarre sounds Char hears at evening and her distressing nightmares, the truth that Suzanne’s father warns her to keep away from Char’s household, and the not-so-accidental undeniable fact that You Are Not My Mother takes place within the days main as much as Halloween.

With You Are Not My Mother, writer-director Kate Dolan has crafted a compelling exploration of rising up in a world that may be unbearably merciless. Even should you stripped away its folk-horror components, Char’s ordeal could be harrowing—however the supernatural evils that creep in find yourself being each a metaphor for a household falling aside below the cloud of psychological sickness, and a supply of some completely nail-biting pressure and frights. Strong performances throughout the board (Bracken is particularly nice; whereas her function does get some special-effects enhancement, it’s principally propelled by her skill to completely embody each a playful mom and a near-feral monster) and a unsettling rating by composer Die Hexen additional make You Are Not My Mother a film that transcends its extra acquainted plot factors to carve out a harrowing little area of interest all its personal.

You Are Not My Mother arrives in theaters and on demand March 25.

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