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A baby in a stroller sits alone on a deserted night street. A young mother is lying on the bed, her limbs tied and her head covered. A teenage girl crouches in front of her classmates, who threaten to set her on fire.
These are just a few of the chilling footage from Kate Dolan’s impressive debut feature, “You Are Not My Mother.” Deeply metaphorical and genuinely distressing at once, the film hovers anxiously around Char (Hazel Doupe), an introverted and bullied teenager who becomes increasingly worried about the erratic behavior of his mother, Angela (Carolyn Bracken). When Angela disappears and reappears without explanation the next day, the mystery of her whereabouts is deepened by Char’s grandmother’s (Ingrid Craigie) cold-blooded response. In this house the silences are screaming.
Set just outside of Dublin as Halloween approaches, “You Are Not My Mother” leaves much of its supernatural aspect to ambiguity and allusions, focusing instead on Char’s reactions to her mother’s gruesome transformation. Pale-faced and wide-eyed, Doupe is heartbreaking; but it is Bracken who has the more challenging role, from enemy to affectionate, from fierce to vulnerable, energetic and almost catatonic. In one surprising scene, Joe Dolan’s Toe “You’re A Very Good Looking Woman” gradually turns a simple dance into a petrified predatory act.
Creative and terrifying, “You Are Not My Mother” shows how frightening and stigmatizing a parent’s mental illness can be for a child. Trapped in his stifling suburb where the steel-coloured sky presses against crouching roofs (wonderfully moody cinematography by Narayan Van Maele), Char is alone. If he needs to find a champion, it won’t be from inside his house.
you are not my mother
Not rated. Working time: 1 hour 33 minutes. In theaters and can be rented or purchased Amazon, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay-TV operators.
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