Mother's Milk

I honestly never write bad reviews, unless I absolutely feel like the movie deserves it. I might as well start with the good: Curiosity got me hooked until the end, as I expected some crazy twist that might redeem the overall quality of the movie. I was let down completely with an "open to interpretations" end, however it was not the ending that disappointed me the most. The story itself is original and worth a try, but the quality of the cinematography, editing, acting and directing really fail to do it justice. The acting clearly fails from the script on, and while we might be able to feel connected to the characters in some way or another, their choice of words and actions often make them seem like robots. And the special effects where lousy even for an indie low budget film. It's not a fantastic movie, it's not even good, but it might have flown under the radar had It not been for all these ridiculous reviews left on its IMDB page.

However, if you take it as what it truly is, a bad movie, and try not to take it too seriously, you might actually enjoy the experience of sitting through all the inconsistencies.

The debut film of director Edward Pionke is a trip to the dark side for the viewer. As with many direct to streaming services release, this one again falls victim of misleading a careless cover art. What we are lead to believe is we are about to see a horror film, and this is quite simply not what were given. The only reason I cannot rank this film a perfect 10 is because of the misleading cover art and synopsis. The tag line "family is forever" is a bit more fitting, however what we have here is a glimpse into the mind of a truly disturbed man - not a horror film to please the fans of the Saw franchise or the Hostel franchise. If that's what you're looking for, stray away.

We meet Claude, a professor who seems to live a solitary and lonely life. Early on we find out that he holds a woman captive in the basement of his modest home, we are unsure why. As the film dives down the rabbit hole we learn that he deals with issues from being raised by a mother who perhaps drank too much and perhaps nursed too long. Due to an unfortunate accident, Claude is left a broken and disturbed man.

The film takes place mainly in one room, the dank basement of Claude's house. And besides a few very minor side characters, the film circles around two characters, Claude and Kim. Kim is an attractive woman kidnapped under the wrong circumstances and forced to take the role of "mommy" to Claude.

There's no explosions, no high gore, no jump scares or BOO moments. This is a film that hinges upon the audiences ability to allow themselves to be locked in a room with a borderline psychopath and wonder what you would do in similar circumstances. Would you risk dying alone by fighting against your captor or would you get to know who this man is and find your own way out. In many ways the film is a cat and mouse thriller. It's very much Kim Vs. Claude. And as the film goes on it's very much Claude Vs. Claude.

There's not a lot of movie making like this out today. The film was probably dumped direct on video because a studio would be afraid of how to market the film, afraid there would be no audience for it. I cannot imagine that there was a big budget behind this however, so I wouldn't believe it would be hard to make back its budget, because it is a highly interesting film that could be marketed towards an art house crowd - I know they exist.

Besides featuring an interesting and fresh script and solid directing, it contains a performance that you just don't see even in mainstream films. The actor who plays Claude, Casey Chapman, does the unthinkable. Personally, although he does some unforgivable things, I was rooting for Claude. The actor has sympathized the devil. It's a remarkable performance.

With solid support from the co-lead Mackenzie Wiglesworth, Mother's Milk amounts to a solid art house film that's perfectly worth the price of a rental. Besides the weird marketing angle, this is a dark dark gem.

I like "smart" horror films – and I got one.

Mother's Milk is about the psychological unraveling of a deeply troubled teacher (Claude,) who fights personal demons that he's no match for.

Claude is a character study in "quiet/mild-mannered" meets "savage brutality" (with a little bit of Anthony Hopkins-esque "sexy" thrown in). A young woman (Mackenzie Wiglesworth as Kim Rodgers) is abducted by Claude early in the film. Despite the odds (I think only "Beauty" ended up with "The Beast") – you hope somehow love will conquer all.

In my favorite scene, Claude becomes a petulant five-year old when a dish he serves isn't embraced by his captive. A war of wills ensues, and oddly - you find yourself somehow championing Claude's culinary dictatorship. Here the director is absolutely skilled in capturing the right balance of tension and comic relief in the tug-of-wills between Claude and Kim.

But what anchors the terror of the story - is an at first quiet, then frenetic build to a horrifying scene which I still can't get out of my head (no spoiler alert here – you've got to see it to appreciate this level of "disturbing"). I couldn't look, but I couldn't look away.

All of the exaggerated over the top nonsense reviews of this film made me laugh...

These people must have worked on or know the people who were responsible for making this "thing" as i cant see any other reason for such high ratings.

I made my account to do my very own honest and real reviews after reading so many idiotic reviews on terrible movies over and over on this site.

Do not waste your time with this movie, the simplest and quickest way to sum it up in one word is (Rubbish)

End of

I was able to catch a screening of Mother's Milk recently and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The subject matter seems rather dark. It revolves around a lonely man who has a dark fetish for breast milk who kidnaps women. Although that may sound off-putting, don't fear. This isn't your typical horror or torture film at all. In fact, I would say this is a love story. At its core its about two desperate people who find themselves forced to connect with one another. I saw that it was about to hit the festival circuit and I hope that more people will be able to view the film, as it could really be a hidden indie gem.

The writer/director, Edward Pionke, really shows promise bringing a fresh and new type of film I hadn't seen before, and the cast was equally as strong. The two leads were fantastic as well (Casey Chapman and Mackenzie Wiglesworth). I would recommend this film to you if you enjoy character studies, and dark films. It can be rather slow moving, but I think that is intentional. Although it can take a while, I was pretty much hooked halfway through and wouldn't spoil the ending for you. So if you get a chance to see it, I say go.