Last night’s movie pick was something of an anomaly. “You Are Not My Mother” is a horror/drama/thriller mashup that takes place in a quaint and scenic town in Ireland. It was originally released in late 2021 and is shorter than most movies by today’s standards–stopping at just over an hour and 30 minutes. 

“You Are Not My Mother’s” ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb are what first made us curious about the movie, mainly because it received a better score from the critics at Rotten Tomatoes than the more casual viewers of IMDb, and even that of Google Users. Critics (Rotten Tomatoes) placed the movie at 89 percent, just shy of the acclaimed 90s, while IMDb only placed it at a 5.8 out of 10. 64 percent of Google Users gave it the thumbs up, outnumbering Rotten Tomatoes. Still, a 5.8 out of 10 and/or a 64 percent aren’t bad scores at all–especially for a lesser-known production company such as Fantastic Films. All this being said, we decided to give it a try. 

“You Are Not My Mother” sets its scene in Dublin, Ireland. It all begins when Char Delaney needs a ride to school. Her ailing grandmother cannot take her, so she must turn to her mother–who seems sick in another way. After school ends, Char returns home to find that her mother is missing. Luckily, she returns home that night. Unluckily, as the movie’s title suggests, she comes home different. 

We ended up giving “You Are Not My Mother” a four out of ten. The atmospheric tension and the majority of its cinematography were its strong points. On the other hand, the movie was weak when it came to making compelling characters that actually felt real (something, we’ve noticed, that many horror/thriller films struggle with), as well as with pacing itself. 

Like many horror movies, the “on the edge of your seat” feeling that was created is what makes the movie so thrilling. This is created through intense music, though it could be argued that the music was, at times, too tense, taking away from the other elements of the movie. The overall atmosphere is also created by using strategically-placed anticipation: that feeling of knowing something is going to happen but not necessarily knowing when. The high-paced moments were all cleverly built up to, even if the anticipation felt grueling in the moment. 

The movie also had great visual appeal. While the cinematography was not perfect, it was one of the highlights of the movie. The scenes are cleverly cut together, giving the viewer a great image of the setting. Though the movie takes place in Ireland, a famously gray part of Europe, the lighting comes together, adding to the dreary atmosphere and tension on some scenes. 

While the scenes were visually appealing, the characters within them were lacking. This is not entirely due to the actors themselves giving poor performances, as the main cast gave compelling performances, and those that were sub-par came from characters that were lesser in the story, and thus flew more under the radar of viewers. However, the writing of the characters is lacking. Simply, the characters are very unrealistic. The vast majority of the characters are teenagers, and, as teenagers, we were able to very easily notice that their behaviors were not reflective of the behaviors of real teenagers. One of the main sub-plots has to do with Char’s struggling relationships with people who were once her friends. In this sub-plot, one of the most explored ideas is peer pressure. While peer pressure is a real thing, it really isn’t to the extent that it is made out to be in the movie. Teenagers aren’t forcing each other to partake in the use of drugs and alcohol, and they certainly aren’t making near constant attempts to inflame one another, but in this movie they are.

Char’s character in particular is depicted as being very naive at times, and very mature at others. She is especially depicted as naive when she is interacting with the antagonists of the movie, both the main antagonist, her mother, and the more minor ones, her ex-friends. When interacting with the neutral characters of the movie and when she is on her own, she is very mature and responsible. Her own character’s contradiction of itself makes her very hard to characterize and relate to, distancing her from the audience, and taking the viewer out of the movie. 

The pacing of the movie is another aspect that we questioned the decisions of. In the beginning, the pacing seems perfect. This doesn’t last long, however, as when the first conflict, the mom’s disappearance, hits, the pacing is thrown off. From there, there are frequent moments where everything seems to fly by in a blur, and others that are very drug out. 

In certain scenes, the dialogue was also a little bit strange. To put it bluntly, the script seemed unsure of itself, which reflected badly on the actors tasked with performing it. There were many instances where characters would say things almost just for the sake of saying something, instead of to help drive the plot. A possible reason for this could be the production team attempting to add to the eeriness of the film, and, to an extent, one could argue that it does. However, it is way too overdone in many of these scenes, and therefore, it only serves to take the viewer out of the magic of the movie. In the end, the jumbled dialogue just left us with more questions than we think the movie intended, leaving us dissatisfied and confused. 

The plot of the movie itself reminded us of “The Watchers” (2024), mainly because both deal with European folklore and try to combine the horror and fantasy genres. While we found this take on the traditional celtic folklore interesting, the plot points proved too predictable to keep us enthralled. The horror aspects were a bit less obvious than the fantasy parts, but both led us straight to the plot “twists” early on in the movie. 

The most disappointing part of “You Are Not My Mother” was it brought nothing new to the table. The concept of someone going missing and then coming back “changed” has been done many times before. We give credit to the production team for trying to dress this plotline up with Celtic folklore, but that was really all that they did, and the disguise was not very clever. 

Despite all of these shortcomings, overall, “You Are Not My Mother” was an interesting experience with decent acting and impressive camera work. It truly envelopes the concept of fantastical horror.