Mother of Flies – Fantasia review

A mournful, mossy spell of grief and devotion in the Adams Family’s return-to-form witchy cancer drama.

★★★★

Great news out of Fantasia for fans of indie horror powerhouse the Adams Family: their new film Mother of Flies is a clear return to form – specifically the form of their previous high point, Hellbender.

Mother of Flies sees the Adams family back in their element, blending intimate character work with raw, folkloric horror. Toby Poser is in her sweet spot as Solveig, a morally ambiguous earth-mother witch whose rituals blur healing and harm. Her performance anchors the film’s uncanny atmosphere, but everyone here brings their best. Zelda Adams gives a brittle, brave turn as Mickey, a terminally ill teen whose search for salvation leads her deep into the woods and deeper into something darker. John Adams, as the kindly, subtly devastated father, gives the story weight and urgency.

The Adams family – John, Toby, Zelda, and Lulu – are renowned in the horror scene as operating as a self-sufficient DIY filmmaking unit, each taking on overlapping creative roles. All four act, with John typically handling co-direction, cinematography and editing; Toby and Zelda co-direct, and write; and Lulu (who cameos in this production as a hotel receptionist) contributes to set design, continuity, and assistant direction. Mother of Flies shows how seamlessly their skills interlock to create deeply-felt tales of dread and fear.

This is one of the family’s most tightly scripted films to date. The emotional core is powerfully, the character arcs are clean, the dramatic turns earned, and the payoff lands its punches. Visually, it leans into rich natural textures of moss, blood, and bone, and the soundscape from Adam’s Family band H6llB6nd6R gives it that haunted, handcrafted pulse they’ve become known for. But what elevates Mother of Flies is how deliberately it keeps its focus on the emotional stakes amid the rot and ritual. You feel the heat and the weight, not just the strangeness, in this confident, mournful, and at times fiercely beautiful piece of folk horror.

No surprise then, that Mother of Flies has made Fantasia history by becoming the first U.S. feature to win the festival’s top prize, the Cheval Noir Award for Best Film. Richly deserved!

Mother of Flies played at the Fantasia International Film Festival.