MOTHER OF FLIES (USA 2025) **
Directed by the Adams Family
In dreams, reflections glimmer, and death grows again. I do not pray as it shows a lack of faith, that one does not take what fate brings. These contemplations, from the start of the film abounds throughout the film. Not much happens in this terribly slow-burning film with a narrative that is as weak as its premise. The visuals and sound, in contrast, are detailed and impressive, if one can sit through the tedium.
Something is not right with Mickey (Zelda Adams), the young teen protagonist of the movie. The College student has dark circles and a pale complexion as she taps at the communal piano in her dorm, and a friend tentatively enquires if “it is back.” The audience learns from her father, Jake (John Adams), that Mickey has cancer; that her (admittedly stylish) short hair has only recently grown in; and that she has exhausted all of the conventional medical options.
That leaves them with the witch in the woods - the MOTHER OF FLIES. This is The Adams Family meets the Mother of Flies, with flies and maggots filling the screen at the film’s start.
The Mother of Flies, Solveig (Toby Poser), is introduced first in the film, revealing her naked body, covered in blood, and caressing a rotting corpse in the woods. The grotesque, evocative imagery is contrasted by the witch’s beautifully philosophical voice-over about life and death, which is a recurring motif throughout the film.
Mickey embraces death. Yet contradicting herself (in fact, many of the poetic voiceovers do the same), she says she will do everything in her mother-fucking opera to procrastinate death. Yes, the voiceover is also not share pf foul language,
Mickey sees Solveig, also known as the witch in the woods, with her accompanying father, with whom she does not get along. But when things get weirder and stranger, he opts out. Despite Jake’s concern, Mickey has elected to stay with Solveig for three days of intensive treatment. En route, however, the red flags begin to pop up: it was Solveig who reached out to Mickey, and she’s not charging the girl anything. When father and daughter pull up at the witch’s forest house, they discover it is literally built out of a tree and features an enormous rock pile/totem in the front yard. The set-up bears all of the hallmarks of a fairy tale crone who lures the heroine to her doom. All the hype and build-up do not warrant the anti-climactic ending
MOTHER OF FLIES can be described as a folk-horror/occult thriller from the U.S. filmmaking trio John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser (often referred to as the Adams Family), known for indie horror works like Hellbender. It premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival 2025 and won the festival’s top prize (the Cheval Noir Award for Best Film).
The film was acquired by Shudder and is set to stream on Shudder, the horror streaming service, beginning January 23, 2026.
Trailer:
A PRIVATE LIFE (Vie privee)(France 2025) ***
Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski
Lilian (Foster), an American psychoanalyst in Paris, is devastated to learn that her client Paula (Virginie Efira) has taken her own life. Or has she? Visits from Paula's furious widower, Simon (Mathieu Amalric) and taciturn daughter Valérie (Luàna Bajrami), along with the discovery that files have been stolen from Lilian's office, suggest that Paula may have fallen victim to foul play. Assisted by her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), Lilian undertakes some amateur sleuthing. Academy Award winner Jodie Foster stars in this strange murder mystery black comedy, playing an American psychiatrist working in France. Foster speaks perfect French and it is strange but wonderful to watch her totally inhabit the role. She works with French veterans Daniel Auteul, who plays her ex, and Matthieu Amaric, in an angry, deranged encounter among others. The script contains a lot of crazed characters, Jodie’s psychiatrist being one of them, with her conspiracy theories of murder and her past life. It all turns out well at the end with a happy ending, though a bit too far-fetched for the film’s own good.
