‘Mother of Flies’ Movie Review [Fantasia 2025]: The Adams Family Unpack Survival Through Witchcraft

Photo from Fantasia Film Festival

From Jeff Nelson

A witch dwelling deep in the woods is a classic horror trope, and the Adams Family (composed of John Adams, Toby Poser, and daughters Lulu and Zelda Adams) knows a thing or two about blending drama with the occult. Their coming-of-age indie Hellbender proved as much, and now the filmmaking family unit returns with another dive into witchcraft. This time, they unearth humanity’s primal fears of mortality and the unknown.

Desperate and out of options after a deadly diagnosis, Mickey (Zelda) ventures deep into the woods to meet with Solveig (Poser), a mysterious witch with poetic speech. The young guest brings along her skeptical father, Jake (John), for support. Though quietly reeling over his daughter’s illness, he agrees to endure the next three days of bizarre rituals, if only to let Mickey feel she’s tried everything to survive.

Solveig’s home is unwelcoming to strangers, especially the spare room where Jake is forced to sleep. Just outside, looms a massive pile of stones (The Blair Witch Project taught us this is never a good sign). Jake grows increasingly wary of the witch, unsettled that she isn’t even requesting payment for her services. “Nothing is for free,” he firmly warns Mickey, and soon they’ll both learn that every cure demands its price.

The Adams Family takes a slow but steady approach to dissecting the relationship between life and death. Mickey is a fighter, willing to exhaust every option before accepting her fate. The film demands patience, relying on dialogue-heavy character arcs that slowly simmer with dread. Mickey and Jake share a close bond, although the father is less adept at hiding his grief. His refusal to embrace supernatural methods pushes her further into Solveig’s arms. The witch is strange, yet she always finds the right words to comfort Mickey, even if only momentarily.

Even stranger is the movie’s uneven pacing. It relies on poetic musings about the true meaning of death to build suspense. Red flags appear in nearly every scene, but Mickey’s desperation blinds her to them. The Adams Family occasionally dips into nightmarish imagery, but the focus is on prose that never escalates to a true boiling point. This horror film hinges on its dramatic revelations, unfolding an even-leveled narrative arc. Moments of grisly violence shine when they’re practical, but some of the digital touches break the illusion – Hellbender suffered the same shortcoming.

The performances are a mixed bag. Zelda and John’s stilted delivery makes Mickey and Jake’s woes hard to invest in. Thankfully, their chemistry ignites during a later, volatile confrontation, which is also their rawest scene. However, Poser steals the show as the witch. Despite her character’s eerie aura, she has a soft, yet commanding presence that is hypnotic. She reads her lines with an authenticity that pulls you in.

The dramatic stakes aren’t always easy to take seriously in Mother of Flies, stemming from a lack of urgency and occasionally stiff performances. This indie production sometimes feels too rough around the edges, with overlit visuals that undermine its intended chilling atmosphere. Yet, the good ultimately outweighs the bad. Poser’s Solveig is magnetic, the underlying tension is palpable, and it doesn’t just replicate the same old story of a witch in the woods. It enriches it.

Rating: 3/5

Mother of Flies played at Fantasia 2025 on July 24th. It will release on Shudder in 2026.

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