Matriarca

There's a really great core idea here and an overall solid story that with just a few minor tweaks could've made an absolute classic, but there's something hard to define that's not quite worked.

I can't figure out if it's the characters, the acting, the editing, or what, but for some reason I couldn't connect and wasn't absorbed on an emotional level - there was no character I was rooting for, none I was rooting against. Someone died and it was acknowledged, but I didn't care.

And if I'm not feeling something emotionally, it loses a major part of the battle for me. The brain parts of the people behind this got everything just about right, but the heart parts I think got left at home.

Very interesting tale of a binge-drinking, cocaine-snorting city type on the verge of a breakdown, visiting her rural-dwelling mother for a very difficult reunion. There's the spectre of a mysteriously deceased father, mentions of the Olde Ways, and the obligatory not-as-harmless-as-they-seem villagers. The first and third acts could be from completely different films, yet it just about works, as both mother/daughter drama and countryside weirdness are dark and intriguing.

Matriarch also largely avoids sudden shocks for the slowly emerging realisation of terror, whilst mixing in unsettling visuals and details which only become clear later on. The central performances are great; Jemima Rooper bravely makes her character spiteful and unlikeable yet still somehow sympathetic, whilst Kate Dickie as her mum is subtly yet unmistakably wrong from the outset, and it just escalates from there. Wonderfully bleak scenery as well; frosty churchyards and desolate roads that don't seem to lead to anywhere.

It's a different attempt. But a very unpleasant movie to watch. Writing is okish. Not every character is well defined. But this movie isn't about character arc and stuff.

Not exactly sure what is the mental trauma the writer / director went into to make such a movie? I can keep abusing this movie

But funny part is - I kept watching it :D. When a movie keeps you engaged then it is a success.

Ignore the negative reviews. Keep your mind very broad and go into this movie's atmosphere and it will give you some unpleasantness back. I would say that is also a kind of entertainment.

Make sure no kids are there nearby when you watch this movie.

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.

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....