Mother of Flies (2025) horror film review

The healing power of nature is widely known, and Mother of Flies takes this to another level and adds some witchcraft to it when student Mickey seeks dark magic from natural healer, Solveig, for a cure to her deadly diagnosis, a ritual that tiptoes the veil between life and death.

This perfectly short 92-minute film starts in darkness, in the dirt and decay of corpses and earth. Solveig (Toby Poser), the witch in the woods, writhes around the gore, which feels ritualistic and unsettling. The story begins with Mickey (Zelda Adams), a student whose cancer has returned. She decides to meet a mysterious woman, a reclusive healer in the woods, who claims to be able to cure Mickey’s illness. Jake (John Adams), Mickey’s father, accompanies his daughter, trying to be supportive while maintaining his cynicism. At this point, Mickey has tried every other treatment with no success, so she decides to try Solveig’s approach.

Everything on the screen, even the gorier moments, is stunning. John Adams and Zelda Adams do a spectacular job on the cinematography. Father and daughter arrive at the picturesque house built upon a tree, roots bare, full branches reaching high. The inside of the house is minimal, and the beds will give any viewer a backache. The setting is calming, healing, but also hidden and treacherous. A reminder that nature is dark and light, cruel and kind, and nothing, including Micky’s cure, will come easy. Our trust in Solveig is continuously tested. Mother of Flies is a slow, quiet film, but it does pack some punches.

Mother of Flies piqued my interest from the word - witch. Anything occult or folk is my love language, but this is a first-time dive into an Adams Family film, and it didn’t disappoint. The latest film directed by The Adams Family is a quiet and haunting depiction of illness, nature, the supernatural, and desperation. Mother of Flies draws on John and Toby’s own experiences with cancer, which is why the film addresses the subject with honesty and care and feels so personal. It also draws on magic, natural philosophy, and medicine. Mother of Flies explores dark subject matters, yet it still allows viewers to escape through its beautiful scenery, understated dialogue, and hypnotic soundtrack, created by the Adams Family band, H6LLB6ND6R, which perfectly scores the film, from its serene moments to its more nightmarish scenes. Periodically throughout Mother of Flies, Toby Poser's soft voice narrates poetically about life and death over dark, witchy images and the serenity of nature. She needs to do audiobooks. The Adams Family has done everything in this film: act (including a short appearance from Lulu Adams), direct, produce, edit, do the practical effects, and compose, and it feels DIY, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Mother of Flies might not be for everybody, as it has a particular, slow-paced style with a lot of emotion, and it certainly isn’t a perfect film. Some of the dialogue feels a little stilted, but it starts to warm up as the threat and the characters' frustrations are amplified. The film twists and turns, and the sympathy and mistrust for Solvieg come in waves as we learn more about her and witness her natural but uneasy practises. It’s an oddly peaceful film, despite some of the gorier scenes, that can be viewed on a rainy Sunday afternoon, maybe deep in the woods. I highly recommend watching it, especially for fans of occult horror.

Mother of Flies will be streaming on Shudder soon.