Family trauma, illness, and the supernatural collide in Shudder‘s The Voices of Our Mother, a horror film that turns one family’s painful reunion into something far more sinister. When their ailing mother’s condition takes a terrifying turn, four estranged siblings must determine whether she is suffering from dementia or has become possessed by something evil.
Written and directed by Mark O’Brien, who also stars in the film, The Voices of Our Mother features Sheila McCarthy as the family matriarch at the center of the chaos. We spoke with O’Brien and McCarthy about the personal experiences that inspired the story, the creation of the film’s old-school horror aesthetic, and the emotional weight of exploring motherhood through a genre lens.
Read our review here.
HGL: Mark, where did the idea for the film come from? Shelia, how did you get involved in this project?
Mark O’Brien: I have three siblings. I’ve always found the dynamics of siblings interesting, especially dealing with certain trauma and whatnot. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s, so just the way your family has to deal with it. Also, watching more horror movies, seeing how possession has a very strong parallel with dementia, I thought, what if you make that into a movie, you’d really be subverting that sub-genre in a certain way.
As well, this notion of the cyclical way in which you are raised and the way you will treat your parents when they are older, and how it comes back to either haunt you or help you, I just found all of those things were great grounds for a film.
Sheila McCarthy: I received the script, and I read it and thought wow, what a ride this would be. I spoke to Mark, and he’s just this incredible Peter Pan of filmmaking, and I don’t think he takes no for an answer, not that I would. I loved working for him, and I just thought what a great, fun ride this is going to be. I’ve done a few horror movies, and they are the best because you can push so far with them; there is no limit.
HGL: Are you both fans of the horror genre?
Sheila McCarthy: Not to watch, no, not me (laughs).
Mark O’Brien: I never used to be, and then I started watching, then made The Righteous, which is a psychological horror. Then I kept watching more horror movies and thought, well, I guess that’s what I’m doing now (laughs). In all seriousness, I did get very interested in the idea that a horror movie opens up the amount of creativity possible in a piece.
Whereas, if you set something in a time and place, you are restricted to those rules, and I don’t think art should have rules. Not that there isn’t a place for those movies; I love movies that are not horror. But as a filmmaker of horror, it’s so juicy and exciting, you can literally do anything. You think about the audience, but it’s also just fun, being the creator of it, and you don’t always get that.
HGL: The Voices of Our Mother has a very old-school horror look and feel. Could you talk about that a bit?
Mark O’Brien: In terms of the look, I felt like there are so many iconic religious horror movies from the ’70s that I wanted to kind of echo it, but not duplicate it. Bernardo Bertolucci had a huge impact on me, his films, and the aesthetic of his films. The Last Emperor, The Last Tango in Paris…
Sheila McCarthy: Oh, 1900, that was life-changing, that movie.
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Mark O’Brien: Yes, 1900, and The Conformist, those kinds of movies. Those looks and feels were really important to me, and Vittorio Storaro’s cinematography, too. There are a lot of aquas in those movies, and in fact, I’m wearing Marlon Brando’s outfit from The Last Tango in Paris in the film, so we were actively trying to hint at it and give it that feel. I wanted to give a touch of it, so then I’m able to subvert it a bit easier, if that makes sense.
Sheila McCarthy: Honestly, I love playing dress-up. I love designers, prosthetic people, and teams. I just get to hide behind their work, and that gives an actor incredible freedom in a film such as this. The time they took to create the clothes and prosthetics is jaw-dropping, and really fun for an actor to disappear in.
It affords you a kind of freedom you don’t always get if you are in a business suit in a courtroom, you know? That is super fun, it’s a very childlike thing to do, but I love that about acting, I always have. It reminded me of my theater background, really fun.
HGL: There is quite a family dynamic at play in this film. Mark, what was it like collaborating with the actors on the film? Sheila, what was it like working with Mark, who is not only the director and writer but also an actor in the movie?
Mark O’Brien: The actors were fantastic. You can say every movie hinges on acting, but this definitely does. It has to feel grounded, it has to feel real, and you have to feel that emotion. It’s hard to care for them, but there is a sadness overhanging all of them. That’s why in a lot of their scenes, there is no holding back.
When you are pushed to the limit like that, like they all are, you just don’t give a shit anymore. Like, here’s what I really think of you. I think we all have times in our lives when we want to say that to someone, and that’s what they do. But the effective contrast there is Annika doesn’t do that; she doesn’t fall into that, and the ones that do pay the price for it.
Sheila McCarthy: I’m just thinking of being on set. I’ve seen the scenes between the siblings, but on set, there was a real feeling of camaraderie and that we were part of something quite special. I think, in the business right now, that can seem rather tenuous. The world seems like a really scary place, too. We were all on the same page on this project, and feeling very lucky that we were working.
We were all there for Mark to do the film, and I just remember a very positive feeling every day. That afforded us all the freedom to really go for broke.
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Mark O’Brien: It’s really great, too, when you’re working with someone like Sheila. When you’re directing someone, you’re seeing all the things, not just what the actor is doing that you are seeing on the monitor, but seeing them as an actor. You can kind of see what they are capable of on the monitor, it’s kind of a strange thing, there’s more to it, it’s a weird sort of connection.
When you watch Sheila, you just know she can do anything. You can see that; there’s an openness that somehow comes through that’s not just rare, it’s kind of unheard of. You don’t really see that; you have to be very delicate sometimes to get something.
Sheila McCarthy: When you’re in a movie like this, you just feel like there is nothing in our way, no one was worried about making this movie. When you take that out of the equation, there is just an incredible lightness and freedom, even during those really intense scenes. That doesn’t always happen.
There was no tension on set, and a lot of times, there is tension and expectation from the powers that be. That’s never a good thing for me, as an actor, and I felt none of that.
HGL: The Voices of Our Mother has a great mix of horror elements and family, especially the role of the mother. How did you both connect with that part of the story, the importance of the mother figure?
Sheila McCarthy: Do we ever get over losing our mothers? No. Grief doesn’t get better; it just gets different over the years. I thought a lot about my mother making this movie, and I just thought, what mistakes did she make, what mistakes am I making, what mistakes do I see my daughter making with my granddaughter now? That’s really interesting to think about now. The loss of a parent is insurmountable, so I really thought a lot about that when making this film.
Mark O’Brien: You know, it’s funny, I hadn’t thought about this in a long time, but when I first started writing this film, my daughter was about four or five. I remember thinking if I was with her, and my wife was out of town, or something, and something tragic happened to me, let’s say I died, and she was alone, what would she do? She doesn’t know how to pick up the phone and call someone. What would she do in that moment?
I thought that would be fascinating for Sheila’s character. When that happens in the movie, I was thinking about my daughter. To me, it’s more interesting if it’s a mother already that it happens to, that’s not something you normally see.
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HGL: Now that the film is finished, what do you both take away from this experience?
Sheila McCarthy: I’m happy these movies finally get eyes on them because we all worked so hard on this project, and we filmed this over two years ago. People give their blood, sweat, and tears to make these projects, and then finally, there is going to be an audience. So that’s what I take away from making this film.
Mark O’Brien: Sharing it and seeing how different people are going to react to it. People feel different about things. I wanted to be a director my whole life. I worked so hard to just try and do it, and just to see what someone gets out of it. Positive or negative, that’s not up to me; it’s more like you affected someone.
I think that’s interesting because to me, you want to create something that has some lasting value. That’s what I want. Whether they like it or not is based on their own personal experiences; that’s why we like or dislike anything. If it really gets to someone in the audience, that’s really cool.
The Voices of Our Mother is available on Shudder in the US and on VOD and in select theaters in Canada now through Vortex Media.
