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Parents' Guide to

You Are Not My Mother

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Bullying, creepy imagery in unsettling Irish horror movie.

Movie NR 2022 93 minutes
You Are Not My Mother Movie Poster

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Is It Any Good?

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Kids say (2 ):

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.

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