Matriarca

Not a movie for everybody or indeed anybody but if you want something different then it is worth a watch.. Like it or not, it's admirable that the movie is totally weird and refuses to follow any formula but it's own. It does not even care about alienating people, it is that daring.

During the short run-time it takes all sorts of twists and turns and you never know what will happen. It might at the end of the day try to much and gets lost in it's own story. But Kate Dickie is as usually great in another eccentric unhinged lady role. Going all in, she knows exactly what kind of movie it is....

To get that out of the way .. i rate this movie to be a bit above average.

If i wanted to describe a feeling in one word .. i would probably go with : uncomfortable

A bit like a Lars von Trier movie, but only half way.

Acting is good - although not very nuanced. Cinematography is sometimes good .. but not stellar - and characters act in a very artificial way .. only to support the plot, not in any way realistic (on the basis of the supernatural that is going on)

The CGI was poor ... i mean, Playstation 2 cutscene poor. It was kind of rare .. and i wonder why the movie did not use practical effects .. those would not have been too hard .. and may not have broken immersion as much as those really terrible CGI scenes.

All in all, it was worth watching - for me. But other than that ... a fairly forgettable movie without much depth or meaning (well, unless you are into rural folklore of that region or so .. maybe than there is more to get from it)

First off, Jemima Rooper is entirely awful to observe throughout the whole film. She's dreadful and not in a good way. She's a miserable, atrocious mess of a disaster from the start. The first third of the movie is all about her and her nasty habits and behavior.

Then she goes home to her mother, played by the always-awesome Kate Dickie. And then you kinda see why the daughter is a loathsome person. But by contrast, Kate Dickie can portray appalling without being unconscionably annoying.

Then it turns into a Village of the Wicker Song kinda thing, I guess. The reveal of what is going with the townspeople is a big "um, okay".

The special effects are cheesy in places.

The fudge looked good. Better than the film which, sadly, Kate Dickie can't save.

I thought this movie started out decently, but fell apart as things started to unfold, by the end leaving you questioning what you just watched.

It almost felt like the writers/ people Involved/ maybe even the actors were confused on what exactly this plot was. It was very successfully atmospheric and kept you engaged until the third act where things kind of went off the rails. It was all... kind of explained, yet still even after I was left asking why. I think the plot/script needed another couple once overs to really iron it out and make sure it made sense and was cohesive. Regardless, I thought the mother and daughter both did a solid job as far as acting goes with this and there was still some solid creep factor.

I felt this one had a lot more potential that it didn't quite tap into but was not overwhelmingly unsuccessful. Would recommend but not fervently.

This movie is wayyyy too good to be rated in the 4s and if you read the reviews you can tell the people writing them aren't real horror fans. The bad reviews for this movie seem like they're coming from Hulu watchers looking for fuller house or something.. I love horror movies and know how hard it is to get my hands on a decent one at this point so I think this movie deserves some credit. Having said that..

This film is a very dark folklore esq tale "hints of films like ritual, hereditary, and the witch". Matriarch depicts alcohol and drug abuse with a great sense of realism as well as showing us a broken mother/daughter relationship that feels very familiar to real life.

I think the concept applied in this film was very fresh and executed intelligently. It felt sort of taboo to watch at times in a good way.. like I shouldn't be seeing this but I'm so glad I get to peer in on this dark and dangerous world from the safety of my living room. The actors gave top notch performances as well.. couldn't have asked for more there. Very good horror movie. B+ from me.