Mother of Flies is directed by John Adams, Toby Poser and Zelda Adams and the cast includes John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser, Lulu Adams.
Mother of Flies Review
It doesn’t take long to figure out that Mother of Flies wants to jolt you awake, just in case you were feeling a bit meh, because the opening is blunt and bloody, and not dressed up or teased out - it’s there, it’s graphic, and it’s clearly meant to announce the movie’s intentions.
Even after the title appears, there’s no reset, no soft transition, as the imagery stays harsh and uncomfortable, and the film seems determined to keep that pressure on.
But that early stretch sets up expectations that the rest of the runtime quietly refuses to follow, and once the film settles into its main rhythm, things slow down considerably, where the pace flattens, scenes stretch out, and the energy becomes more muted.
Most of the film lives in conversation, and those conversations are odd, as lines are delivered plainly, often without much emotional variation, and the dialogue comes off as kind of stiff, sometimes even awkward, but it’s clearly written that way - whether that’s effective or alienating depends on how patient you’re feeling at any given moment, and for me, I was bothered by it.
The fact that the Adams family handles nearly every creative role here is impressive though - writing, directing, acting, and music all come from the same small group, and the movie feels shaped by that closeness, as there’s no outside voice smoothing things out or pushing the material toward something more accessible, and I think that insularity gives the film a very specific tone, and sometimes that tone feels controlled and deliberate, while at other times, it feels a little sealed off.
Toby Poser was the standout when it comes to the acting, as even when she isn’t on screen for long stretches, her presence feels dominant, as there’s a steadiness to her performance that contrasts with the ugliness of what’s happening around her.
Zelda Adams and John Adams handle their roles well enough too, though not without friction, as some line deliveries felt clunky, and there were moments where the rhythm of a scene seemed to stumble because of it, but even when the dialogue sounded unnatural, the emotions underneath felt intentional.
That stiff, almost mechanical quality runs through much of the film, as mentioned, it's on purpose, as people don’t talk like this in real life, and the movie isn’t pretending otherwise, but it does create distance, where you feel more like an observer than a participant.
The soundtrack is created by the family’s band H6LLB6ND6R, and it doesn’t fade politely into scenes - it arrives suddenly, sometimes at moments where silence would have been more comfortable, which for me, felt a bit abrasive, especially during quieter passages, but the music adds a harsh texture that fits the film’s rough edges, and it keeps the movie from drifting too far into stillness.
One area where the film really asserts itself however is in its practical effects.
These moments are physical, detailed, and hard to ignore, s there’s nothing subtle about them, nor are they used sparingly either, because as the film moves forward, the discomfort increases through repetition and escalation, with each unsettling image building on the last.
I also noticed that the movie becomes more aggressive without ever announcing that it’s doing so, where scenes grow more unpleasant, and more grotesque, but the tone remains oddly calm, and that contrast did more for me than any attempt at overt intensity would have.
For all its strangeness, the movie does have a clear emotional focus - illness, decline, and the idea of death as something that must be faced rather than avoided, and the folk horror elements aren’t there just for the atmosphere, as they frame these ideas in a way that feels ritualistic and intimate, and I thought this approach mostly worked, even when the execution felt uneven.
And tending of Mother of Flies is quiet and deliberate, where it doesn’t explain itself, and it doesn’t need to, as it felt consistent with everything that came before, where the film asks you to sit with its ideas rather than resolve them, and that feels appropriate given the subject matter.
Overall, Mother of Flies is deeply personal and unapologetically narrow in its focus, and while I didn’t enjoy every moment, and I wouldn’t call it an easy watch, it never felt careless or cynical, as there’s a seriousness to it, even when it’s being deliberately unpleasant.
It's the kind of film that knows exactly what it wants to be - whether that works for you or not is something else, but for me, it was a very mixed bag, but worth a one time watch on Shudder if you have it.