You Are Not My Mother
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You Are Not My Mother
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that You Are Not My Mother is an Irish horror movie in which a teen girl begins to suspect that there are sinister forces at work with her mentally ill mother's behavior. Expect some unsettling moments and creepy imagery -- for instance, in the opening scene a woman places an infant in a bonfire, and we hear the baby's shrieks as the smoke builds and the fire crackles. The lead character has skipped a grade in an Irish girl's school and is mercilessly bullied by her older teen classmates -- besides the verbal abuse, they threaten to, among other things, burn her face with a lighter and an aerosol can. The lead character's mother starts dancing to a '70s pop song and becomes increasingly spasmodic and violent in her dancing, resulting in breaking her ankle, shoving her daughter against a wall, and chasing her until the daughter hides in her bedroom. One teen teaches another how to smoke weed without coughing, and there's cigarette smoking too. "F--k" is often used. Lithium pills are ground into powder and mixed into a glass of water; someone drinks the water and goes into convulsions and foams at the mouth before being hospitalized. A teen bully makes a finger gesture signifying female oral sex at one of the lead characters.
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What's the Story?
In YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER, Char (Hazel Doupe) is a bright teenager living with her distant grandmother, Rita (Ingrid Craigie), and mentally ill mother, Angela (Carolyn Bracken), in a rundown home in a Dublin suburb. A few days before Halloween, Angela gives Char a ride to school, and after nearly getting into an accident on the way, she goes missing after dropping Char off. After a frantic search, including an unpleasant interaction with the school bullies who make Char's life even more miserable, Angela returns the following evening with no explanation as to what happened. Angela is given a new collection of prescription medication, but it doesn't take Char long to see that something is seriously wrong with her mother. Rita and Char begin to suspect that there's something far more sinister at work here than mental illness, an evil rooted in Irish folklore concerning wicked changelings. Char must find a way to figure out who or what is really inhabiting her mother's body and to save Angela, even if it means killing her.
Is It Any Good?
This is an unsettling Irish horror movie that masterfully blends the real and the supernatural. You Are Not My Mother is as much a story of growing up and the ravages of mental illness on individuals and their loved ones as it is a creepy story of demonic possession rooted in legend and folklore. Hazel Doupe is perfect as Char, a teen growing up in a bleak Dublin suburb -- bullied at school and contending with a mentally ill mother at home before things take an even more traumatic turn. Char comes across as likable, a good kid in situations that are bad in both typical and not-so-typical ways.
Many movies, and horror movies especially, have a tough time trying to balance the real with the fantastic, either getting one right at the expense of the other, failing at both, or resorting to clichés. In You Are Not My Mother, the real and the fantastic perfectly set each other off. The struggles of growing up in not-so-good situations offset and heighten the disturbing moments, of which there are more than a few. This is one of the better horror movies out there, and one not easily forgotten.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about horror movies like You Are Not My Mother. How is this similar to and different from other horror movies you've seen in terms of violence, creepy imagery, and gore?
How does the movie address real-life topics like growing up, mental illness, and bullying?
How is Char similar to and different from other teen characters in horror and coming-of-age movies?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: July 21, 2022
- Cast: Hazel Doupe, Carolyn Bracken, Ingrid Craigie
- Director: Kate Dolan
- Studio: Hulu
- Genre: Horror
- Topics: High School, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Run time: 93 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: July 26, 2022
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