Review – The Eyes of My Mother
The Eyes of My Mother is a truly disturbing and horrifying film, yet one of the most beautifully shot and made films of the year.
The film looks at the life of Francisca, a lonely girl who witnesses a horrible tragedy the skewers her way of life. We see as young Francisca (Olivia Bond) learns how to do facial surgery using dead animals, and we watch the questionable parenting techniques of her parents, until tragedy strikes one of them. We then see an older Francisca (Kika Magalhaes) and how she has grown up with the tragedy lingering over her and how she now lives her day-to-day life, which is horrific and far from normal.
This movie is the perfect example of how to use atmosphere to build tension. This is a movie you never feel good about while watching. From the opening shot to the finale, I was on the edge of my seat with intrigue and suspense. With no score and a wonderfully original story, you never know where this movie is going to go or what is going to happen. It makes for one of the best film experiences I’ve had in 2016.
What the movie does even better is perfect the “show, not tell” montra. Sure, there are grisly scenes of violence here and there, but director Nicolas Pence puts the violence in our heads. Scenes of Francisca cleaning up pools of blood after having someone visit her house, or showing us the aftermath of the family tragedy force us to think about what happened to the victims. These ideas stick in your mind for days after.
Through all the violence, gore, and horror, this is a movie about loneliness. Francisca had a bizarre, traumatizing life growing up, and ends up on on her own in this abandoned house with no other human in sight. She tries to fill the void by doing the gruesome acts, and because she wasn’t raised properly, she doesn’t see anything wrong with what she is doing. She is just looking for the love that she didn’t receive growing up. It is heartbreaking to see Francisca like this and a perfect parallel of emotion in the film.
The Eyes of My Mother is a haunting, beautiful film about loneliness and desperation. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to watch it again, but in a year with a number of really good horror films, this lands near the top.
MY RATING – 3.5/4
Did you see The Eyes of My Mother? What did you think? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook and YouTube by searching Kevflix.