You Are Not My Mother — You Are Not My Mother( streamed film)

You Are Not My Mother is a creepingly slow-paced mix of mental health drama and very low-key Irish folklore-tinged psychological thriller/ horror. It’s a well if glumly acted film, ribbed with moments of lulling disquiet and subtle menace. And while it’s maybe not quite as effecting, or effective in its blend of genres as it thinks it is- it’s certainly an interesting enough trip into troubling emotions and brooding folklore. Here via Fright Fest and Signature Entertainment is a digital release of the 2021 Irish film.

You Are Not My Mother is the first feature-length film from writer/ director Kate Dolan- who before this had helmed a few well-received shorts, including 2017’s Catcalls- which finds a flasher getting a nasty surprise from two women he exposes himself to.  You Are Not My Mother runs at a fairly standard just over one hour and a half mark, though the pacing is a little out/ slow in places.

The film is set on a rather greyly stark housing estate in the north of Dublin, just before celebrations for Samhain. It begins with a rather subtly unnerving flashback- as we see a pushchair under street light at night, a limping figure appears from the shadows- leading the pushchair into nearby wood. The toddler inside is taken out, placed on the leaf’s, a magical textbook is shown- and the woman who pushed the pram lights the forest floor around the child, as it screams. Next, we fast forward some years- and we meet our lead character Char (Hazel Doupe) a rather troubled, sullen, though good at school late teen- she’s late for school, so rushes into her grans Rita (Ingrid Craigie) room, asking for a lift- she says she can’t as her foot is playing up again. So, she nervously asks her mother- who is still in bed, the pair set off, and it’s clear her mother Angela (Carolyn Bracken) is dazed and mentally unwell. They near crash on the way, with Char getting out of the car leaving her mother.  
We see Char at school, and while she’s a good student she is regularly bullied and belittled by a group of girls lead up by Suzanne (Jordanne Jones). Walking home from school, Char sees her mother's car- the door is ajar, and no sign of Angela. The rather disinterested police are called to the family's house where we meet Angela’s brother Aaron (Paul Reid) who explains his sister is having a downtime, and he’s very concerned about her.  Nighttime comes with Char & her gran Rita going to bed- in the middle of the night Char awakes, finding the hunched figure of her mother in the darkened kitchen. At first, she seems slightly better, than when we first met her, but in time she seems very different- acting up very strangely. Is it her mental health issues, has it got something to do with local folklore and the legend of changelings, or is there something else going on here.

Setting the film around Samhain and building of fires for its celebration is something I’ve not seen before. And the decidedly glum estate setting is effective too. As already mentioned, it’s a very slow-paced film, initially coming off as a grim mental health family drama- that’s edged lightly with moments of shadowy disquiet, and subtle horror tropes. As the film unfolds mental health drama and psychological thriller start to blend and blur, with along the way some real brooding and uneasy moments appearing. The whole thing is very well acted, with each actor coming off as a believable and rounded character- and writer/ director Kate Dolan has a real talent for painting both glum drama and a feeling of foreboding dread. I’d say you’ve got to go into You Are Not My Mother expecting a low-key and darkly hued mental health drama, that slowly but surely slides in psychological and horror elements. I guess with that in mind you could put it in the 'Post horror' bracket, though I’d say in its last quarter things do go all-out horror.

 

In conclusion, You Are Not My Mother is a promising debut film from Ms Dolan, with a great and grim setting, and an interesting blend ‘n’ blurring of drama, psychological thriller, and horror. So, I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for future work from her.