‘Mother of Flies’ Review: Witchy Horror Dissects the Beauty of Life and Death

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A while back, someone online who knows a lot about horror films recommended I watch Hellbender, a 2021 movie about a mother and daughter who are witches and play metal music in the woods. That’s how I discovered the Adams family – a filmmaking team known for their unique, low-budget supernatural horror films. They’re incredibly talented at creating movies that feel both natural and carefully crafted, all while celebrating their life in the Catskill Mountains. This family clearly isn’t going to stop making atmospheric horror films anytime soon, and that’s a good thing! Their latest project is Mother of Flies, released in 2025. It’s a beautifully made film that explores life and death through a dark, magical perspective, immersing viewers in the natural world around them.

Toby Poser wrote, directed, and stars in Mother of Flies, alongside John and Zelda Adams (with a brief appearance by Lulu Adams). The film centers on Mickey (Zelda Adams), a college student who, with her doubtful father Jake (John Adams), sets out to find a mysterious witch. They journey to her secluded home – a unique, tree house-like structure built into the woods and appearing almost alive with visible roots and plants. Outside the house, a tall stack of stones brings to mind the look and feel of the 1999 horror film, The Blair Witch Project.

The film opens with a disturbing sequence of imagery – what looks like blood and internal organs, and a naked woman moving rhythmically with the earth, similar to a scene in the movie Antichrist. A calm voice explains that life is about rhythm, while death is silence. We then meet Mickey, a quiet but confident college student, waiting for her father. She’s playing the piano when a friend cautiously asks if her illness has returned. A playful comment about her haircut reveals she’s been battling cancer since she was fifteen, with a fifty percent chance of survival. After intense treatment with chemotherapy and radiation, she briefly went into remission. However, the cancer came back, and doctors gave her only six months to live. Despite her reserved nature, Mickey is full of life and curious about things she doesn’t understand. This, combined with a feeling that she has nothing to lose, leads her to seek out Solveig, a solitary witch who claims she can cure her cancer.

At its heart, Mother of Flies explores powerful themes like birth, beginnings, and the difficult balance between suffering and healing. It acknowledges the harsh realities of life, but also finds beauty in unexpected places, like death, and emphasizes the importance of belief. This haunting horror film offers something for everyone – those who question everything, those who seek spiritual meaning, and those interested in the mystical and occult.

To Have Faith Is to Accept the Gifts and the Curses

Poser’s idea that the fly represents both death and rebirth is a perfect fit for this film, which focuses on a nature-based witch and can also be seen as a creative exploration of Freud’s ideas about life and death instincts. The film highlights the constant tension between these forces and the natural cycle of life. Our understanding of life and death shapes how we navigate the world, and right now, the main character, Mickey, is focused on survival, instinctively fighting to live despite struggles with her own body. Over the three days of Solveig’s unusual healing process – involving pricking, chanting, and offerings to nature – Mickey learns valuable lessons about life.

In the film, Mickey is charmed by a butterfly he sees in Solveig’s house, only to learn it’s actually dead. Though saddened, he acknowledges its beauty, and Solveig surprisingly agrees, saying it’s just as beautiful in death as it was in life. This statement, and others like it, consistently question conventional views on death. Solveig explains to Jake that death exists within Mickey, but paradoxically reveals the value of life to him, while also pointing out that his fear of losing things has eroded his belief. By exploring deep-seated anxieties about death and how they can overshadow life and faith, Mother of Flies is a film rich with philosophical meaning.

The film skillfully challenges our typical fear of death, and this is just as impressive as its well-timed story, strong structure, and surprising twists. Much of the movie follows Mickey and Solveig as they spend three days connecting with nature through a series of rituals. These practices, which involve unsettling imagery like melting flesh and snake eggs, are surprisingly peaceful, even when Solveig’s father disapproves. While some viewers might find these scenes slow at times (though they are punctuated by moments of intense gore), Mother of Flies ultimately rewards your patience with a beautiful, chaotic experience. The film feels both modern and steeped in history, and Solveig’s background as someone who communicates with the dead is a stunning reveal that pays homage to diverse traditions surrounding witchcraft and infancy.

Visually, Mother of Flies is a beautiful film that invites viewers to slow down and appreciate its scenes. Filmed in the Catskills, it features stunning images of nature – moss, mushrooms, wildlife, and sunlight filtering through the trees. Even the unsettling moments, like decaying corpses and a swarm of flies, are presented with artistic skill thanks to special effects artist Trey Lindsay. The film expertly uses contrasts – warm sunlight against cool moonlight, bright green plants against crimson blood – both visually and thematically. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the Adams family feels deeply connected to the natural world, embracing both its beauty and its darker aspects. Ultimately, the film is about finding peace and harmony within the full cycle of life and death.

After debuting at the Fantasia International Film Festival, Mother of Flies was shown at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, where it received reviews. The film is scheduled to be released on Shudder in 2026.

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2025-10-29 17:51