At times, it can seem as if nothing is more horrifying than family, as many are left with toxic family members and a lifetime of struggle in dealing with them. Carving out an independent life can be difficult. The Shudder Original film The Voices of Our Mother does a good job of blending one such family with a nice Gothic horror twist, making a dysfunctional family with plenty of secrets literally come face-to-face with their own demons.
Siblings William (Mark O’Brien), Martin (Alex Ozerov-Meyer), Therese (Caroline Bartczak), and Annika (Georgina Reilly) are forced to come together to decide what to do about their ailing mother, Harriet (Sheila McCarthy). She has become almost bedridden, a condition the doctors cannot explain.
As the siblings argue over her care, many old wounds and secrets surface, and a new supernatural problem arises. It plunges an already dysfunctional family into pure chaos. Mark O’Brien, who wrote, directed, and starred in the film, put together a simple yet dark idea that requires a lot of dialogue and believable effects to make it all come together. Thankfully, for the most part, he succeeded, and the actors were up to the task.
Some of the arguments between siblings, which they often bounce back and forth on, are instantly relatable and will hit home with many. That, combined with the mother figure being highlighted in different ways, makes for some intriguing scenes that will jar more than a few people’s memories.
While the siblings try to brush off their mother’s illness as a result of their grandmother’s (Anna Ferguson) death, it quickly becomes clear that something else is going on. Before you can say “The Exorcist,” we have a full-blown possession on our hands.
Veteran actor Sheila McCarthy, who has been down the horror road before in Anything for Jackson, seems to have a great time in the role. She growls, cackles, and menacingly taunts and teases her children, exposing their deceptions and lies. Nothing like a demonic possession to lay bare the issues bubbling under the surface in this family.
To this end, the practical effects are used to support the story without overwhelming it, applying the less-is-more principle well. Only a few times does it show that this is not a big-budget film (nor does it need to be).
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The film takes its time getting to some key points, which can slow the pace to a crawl, but thankfully not often or for long. The idea of the mother figure is examined, explored, and turned inside out, making McCarthy’s performance that much more important.
To be fair, the actors playing the four siblings do a good job, and Georgina Reilly plays Annika well, as she is tasked with dealing with both family and possession problems. There are some great moments of dialogue, and O’Brien, as William, delivers some great lines, all while directing the script he wrote.
The Voices of Our Mother has an effective ’70s-vintage, gritty aesthetic, seen in demonic films like The Omen and The Exorcist. It helps make the story feel less artificial and allows the audience to become invested in the characters before the demon starts strutting around in the film’s final half.
Sometimes you want to scream at this family; other times, you want to give them all a hug. It is a welcome change from cookie-cutter creations, for whom you don’t care whether they live or die.
While The Voices of Our Mother is not a perfect film, it still deserves attention. The combination of a dysfunctional family, strong performances, interesting ideas about the role of mother, and a demonic possession results in a mostly well-paced, well-thought-out film from beginning to end.
The Voices of Our Mother is available to stream on Shudder starting Friday, June 19.
