Mother of Flies is written and directed by John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser, also known as the “Adams Family”. John serves as editor and sound designer, while Zelda and Toby work as the Directors of Photography. Additionally, all of three of them serve a variety of other roles on the film, making it a truly indie production. Mother of Flies marks the collective’s eighth feature film. The film features music by H6LLB6ND6R.
Next to these production crew roles, the Adams Family stars in the film. Zelda Adams stars as Mickey, John Adams is Jake, Mickey’s father, and Poser portrays Solveig, the witch doctor. As for the film itself, the narrative follows Mickey and Jake as they seek out Solveig to treat Mickey’s returning cancer. Facing death, Mickey is ready to accept Solveig’s strange treatments regardless of whether they work or not, while Jake finds himself at odds with the harsh environment and Solveig’s unusual demeanor.
Commendable Effort
Look, I don’t want to totally bash this film because I respect the effort. The fact that this family gets together and continually makes films is impressive and admirable. It speaks to a love of the craft. With that being said, Mother of Flies is a tough watch. It has its moments, but overall, I did find myself fighting to pay attention to the film.
The effort is commendable, but the film fails to create a tone and atmosphere of horror. Partially, this is a result of the way that it’s shot. The Adams’ framing of shots is often interesting, and they make good use of the depth in frame. However, in terms of the lighting, everything feels very dim and flat. It’s halfway to being visually exciting, but fails to land it. The aesthetic of the witch house is certainly strange and unusual. Yet, it never quite veers enough into the horror territory for my liking.
Secondly, the dialogue is very simple but also at times overdone. Particularly, much of Solveig’s dialogue attempts too hard to be insightful and meaningful. Instead, it comes across as painfully uninspired. The dialogue between Jake and Mickey is similarly painful. Then again, given the actors real life connection, it does come across slightly more natural. I do not mind the performances that much, honestly. The actors seem to know what they are capable of and stay within those bounds. Of the three main performers, Zelda is the standout. She’s able to convey the emotions of her character without it ever feeling overly fake.
Story and Genre
In terms of the story, it is difficult to buy into this one. I do believe that when faced with cancer or other difficult diagnoses, people will go to great lengths to find some sort of miracle cure. But when this desire turns into visiting a random woman in the woods, it’s harder to buy into the reality the film presents. Also present is a somewhat dual timeline, with Solveig’s past. These sections are a little more engaging as you attempt to figure out how they fit into the larger narrative, though the resolution is somewhat underwhelming. Thematically, I understand what this film is going for, but as mentioned earlier, the dialogue does not fully serve the film’s thematic intentions. It’s always so close to getting it, but never able to get that last push it needs.
With all this said, I do think the Adams Family is able to create some strong horror visuals. In particular, the opening to the film is quite stunning to look at. There are a few scenes later on involving a snake that are quite effective at evoking horror and unease. It’s a shame the rest of the film can’t quite support the promise shown in some of these visuals because there is clearly a love for the genre here that isn’t fully able to translate on screen. Things that should be scary or unsettling don’t always fully come across that way. And really, that just makes much of the runtime drag on. Every fifteen to twenty minutes, an exciting visual is served up, but then the rest of the dull film continues on.
A final note is that the music from H6LLB6ND6R is fantastic. Both the more ambient tracks and the more traditional songs are very fitting for the film and do help enhance the experience.
The Verdict on Mother of Flies
Mother of Flies offers a few striking visuals, but its failure to deliver a compelling story and tone, paired with its basic dialogue, makes for a dull viewing experience. But there is a clear love and reverence for horror put into this film, so some viewers may be able to enjoy this film and overlook the messier aspects.
Mother of Flies is now streaming via Shudder!
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