Motherly (2021)
(On Cable TV, October 2021) Hey, I’m all for horror films, or low-budget filmmakers getting their shot at making their films, or twists and turns. But there’s a point when there’s too much horror, too little budget, and too many twists and turns. By the time Motherly ends with its sadistic revelations, I was ready for a plane, asteroid or UFO to crash on the barn where the action takes place so that everyone in the cast could die. Before we get there, however, we have a lot of narrative and mysteries to get through—a woman keeping her daughter isolated at home, her trying to seduce an older man, a couple breaking into the house to attack mother and daughter while claiming that they’re responsible for the death of their own daughter… and that’s not getting into the criss-crossing affairs that characters may or may not have had or be having. It’s all built over a central deception that eventually becomes clear in the film’s last few moments, but not before nearly the entire cast gets killed in increasing gruesome ways. Despite the vivaciousness of the script and a rather effective execution from writer-director Craig David Wallace, Motherly eventually becomes more exasperating than satisfying. Fans of twist endings may feel otherwise, but there are so many lulls during the film’s 90 minutes that it exhausts rather than invigorates.