Mother's Milk

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.

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.

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)

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One wonders (worries) how someone comes up with these things! I wish I could narrow down the reasoning behind my streaming this film from a vast array of titles. I am not a scary movie person - and my favorite films don't have much in common with this dark little film. However, it was inexpensive on iTunes and listed as a drama even though it looked like a horror.

I am big on searching out films that I have never heard of however. And there were some real surprises included in this unique and disturbing film.

First of all - although it only runs an hour and a half, its quite the ordeal. Its one of those films that doesn't take up much of your time, but it feels like it takes up a ton of your time. That comes from a mixture of it being pretty slow-paced at times, and also because the tension ratchets up and up and UP throughout the film. By the end I had to fight the nerve to get up and walk out and to put my hand down from my mouth because I had chewed off my fingernails.

It's a slow build - but it does have a pay off.

I will say I did NOT care for the end of the film, however I will give the screenwriter credit for the fact that it took a turn that I never saw coming.

This writer/director, Edward Pionke, I must believe is a somewhat disturbed man to have created such a realistic and often brutal film about love and entrapment. It is very well written and I would be interested to see where else he could go as a filmmaker, as it looks like he has more films coming down the pike.

The acting is on point as well. Although I feel the film could have really challenged its audience by eliminating all of the side-characters who do nothing to forward the plot anyhow and just have two characters (like Van Sant's "Gerry"). I feel that is the approach the characters (and actors) needed to really have pushed this over the edge. However I think you would be hard pressed to find acting this good in a movie with a budget this small (I can only guess). The lead Casey Chapman gives one of the most unique and odd yet thrilling and exciting performances I've seen in a while. Mackenzie Wiglesworth forms a perfect pair, and the chemistry they share on screen is pretty special.

There is a scene or two however that are so over-the-top that almost ruin the film. One is pure pornography and the other involves on screen vomiting in a way that you have never seen before and hopefully will never see again. This was simply not needed, as neither scene pushed the story forward in any way.

It's a movie I recommend with trepidation. I enjoyed it surprisingly so, but I could see people really not liking it. To each their own I say. In the end I think its the work of a talented writer/director who seems to be interested in making a different kind of movie, and that I can admire.

I saw "Mother's Milk" at the North West Ohio Film Festival last week. After reading about the film I thought I was going to see a horror film of the likes of "hostel" or something, about a psycho torturing a woman. Boy was I wrong. This was an eerie yet almost beautiful film with 2 mind blowing central performances.

It's the story of a disturbed man who captures women to observe his fetish of breast feeding. Sounds pretty rough huh? Well after about 15 minute you settle into the feel of the film. It is at times uncomfortable but when you think it's going to go one way - it veers the other way. The central performance of Claude is the reason the film works. There are times during the film where you actually feel for his character. The actor Casey Chapman humanizes the role, pretty remarkable performance. And he is matched by Mackenzie Wiggelsworth who is also fantastic as the woman he kidnaps.

After listening to the director and actors at the Q&A I will be keeping my eye out for this film. I think it could hit it big. See if you can.