Review: ‘M.O.M (Mothers of Monsters)’ is a Welcome Addition to Found Footage

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Found footage movies tend to be hit or miss. They either end up being cult classics, like The Blair Witch Project, or just another movie you’ve never heard of. It’s not an easy sub-genre to master; the movie has to be believable ‘footage that was found’ all pieced together, while still following a coherent narrative, otherwise it just doesn’t work. Let’s see which side M.O.M (Mothers of Monsters) falls on. Writer and director Tucia Lyman has a pretty hefty background in reality TV/documentaries, so the believability factor should come natural for her. 

The story focuses on Abbey, the 40-something mother of Jacob, a son who’s just turned 16-years-old. And, he’s a bit of a handful. Since Jacob was a kid, he’s shown signs that something just ain’t right. He shows stereotypical signs of a future serial killer: wetting the bed, killing small animals, and a lack of empathy. 

Jacob has been to a facility for these issues in the past, but every time Abbey’s shown concern, she’s been made out to believe she’s over-exaggerating. Even her own mother thinks so. He has ‘tantrums’ and rage ‘fits’, and Abbey thinks his behavior is going to lead to something awful: a mass school shooting. So, she starts recording him, using covert cameras throughout the house, and her cell phone. But Jacob out-smarts her, uses family history against her, and makes things pretty complicated.

Now, this is a very delicate subject, albeit one that needs to be talked about. So, how M.O.M (Mothers of Monsters) approaches the subject needs to be done right so it isn’t tasteless garbage. Thankfully, Lyman handles it pretty well, and there’s not an ounce of glorifying guns or murder.

Melinda Page Hamilton (Mad Men) portrays Abbey with the unadulterated desperation of a mother who just wants to do what’s right for her child. We see her struggle with the realization that her son could be capable of murder, as well as this serving as a reminder of what her own brother did when he was Jacob’s age: gunned down seven of his classmates before turning the gun on himself. The wave of emotions this character goes through is massive, and Hamilton shows each one of them with clarity and credibility.

Bailey Edwards (Bright) plays the evil and sick Jacob with almost a worrying amount of realism. He’s an awkward yet confident teenage boy, who just wants to dick around with his friends, joke about murder, torture animals and play video games – at one point we see him threaten to break his mom’s jaw if she doesn’t give him his PlayStation back. He has a keen interest in science, particularly how the body works – another common sign of a potential psychopath, or a would-be serial killer. 

While the found footage element isn’t perfect, the use of so many cameras to explain how there is so much footage is a clever move, and works well to tell the story. There’s even Jacob’s phone footage backed-up onto the desktop, so we can see him when his mom’s not there/ he’s not at home. There are some twists and revelations, even if some of the plot isn’t exactly unexpected. It’s multi-layered when it comes to who is actually watching the footage: is it us the viewers, is it Jacob, is the cops, is it a potential Mother of a Monster, or is it a culmination of the lot?

What’s really clever about the movie, though, is how it keeps you guessing if Jacob really is a psychopath, or if it’s actually Abbey who is crazy. Each video snippet flips between the two ideas, with little nuggets of information making you question who you really believe. Watching, you automatically assume the position of a therapist or psychologist, looking for clues as to who is really the psycho, before the twist ending leaves you shocked, a little confused, and seriously on edge.

M.O.M (Mothers of Monsters) is a nice independent addition to the found footage sub-genre that works to tell an important story. It will make you think about a topic that’s so easily and often brushed under the carpet, as well as leaving you shocked and shaken at its finale.

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