Vague Visages’ Mother of Flies review contains minor spoilers. The Adams Family’s 2025 Shudder movie on AMC+ features themselves: Zelda Adams, John Adams and Toby Poser. Check out the VV home page for more film criticism, movie reviews and film essays.

The Adams family — mom Toby Poser, dad John Adams and daughter Zelda Adams — have been quietly making movies together for a while now. Their big breakout moment, if you can even call it that, came with 2021’s Hellbender. But, despite remaining mostly under the radar since, the trio has continuously released wild and weird horror flicks for intrepid genre fans to discover. The family’s latest release, Mother of Flies, is a Shudder Original, so the film will be somewhat easier to find. But even if the filmmakers continue to satisfy their own creativity — typically tackling the directing, acting, editing and even the music — the fact that they’re doing it is enough to give even the most cynical fan hope for the genre’s future.

Zelda and John take the lead in Mother of Flies as a father-daughter duo seeking help from Toby’s forest-dwelling witch, Solveig. Zelda’s Mickey has been battling cancer since she was 15, and she’s desperate to try anything that might prolong her short life a little more as a college student. Naturally, Mickey’s father balks at the idea of a wild-haired stranger performing potentially dangerous rituals on his ailing child. And, crucially, his skepticism never wavers. But since Mickey’s belief in Solveig’s methods is so unimpeachable, her father inevitably gets pushed to the side.

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The particulars of Solveig’s activity remain purposefully vague in Mother of Flies, but there’s plenty of whispered chanting, grinding of natural supplements from the earth and pouring of mysterious, gooey substances onto Mickey’s exposed skin. The Adams family typically features lots of forest-based stuff in their productions, and nature features prominently here once again (various trees and plants are even thanked in the closing credits). But Mother of Flies takes it to a whole other level by setting most of the action in the woods, including some well-placed flashbacks to flesh out Solveig’s origin story. Her house, a truly incredible structure in which the Adams family actually lives IRL (which has been gussied up for the movie), is an ideal location for spooky activity (a moss bed on which Mickey sleeps is particularly noteworthy). The camera wends its way through approvingly, pausing to take in each dark corner while hinting at what disquieting secrets it might contain.

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John and Zelda’s saturated cinematography is stunning in Mother of Flies, with plenty of rich, evocative greys and greens. In the movie’s arresting and gorgeously composed opening sequence, the filmmakers depict Solveig engaging in bloody necromancy before her identity or motivations have been established. It’s a piquant introduction to say the least. The Adams family’s vision is so unique and uncompromising that even their transitions are cool, with one showing the journey from a diner to a motel standing out as especially clever and inventive when it really didn’t need to be. Narration (from Poser) and music (from the family band H6LLB6ND6R) are both used sparingly, as the filmmakers trust viewers to follow along without too much hand-holding. Suffice it to say, this isn’t some Netflix Original that can be half-watched with one eye on a phone. Mother of Flies demands the audience’s full attention and rewards viewers with some of the most memorable horror imagery in years, including a tree with a baby’s face crying blood.

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Mother of Flies is clearly a deeply personal story — one of motherhood, loss and the lies we tell ourselves just to keep hope alive. There’s a lovely rapport between the central trio onscreen; it’s very natural — the kind of chemistry that can’t be faked — and it eases viewers into accepting some of the more woo-woo plot points. Poser delivers a nervy, unvarnished performance as Solveig, while Zelda is heartbreaking as the defiant Mickey. As for John, he impressively portrays a worried dad who tries his best to offer support (the couple’s other daughter, Lulu Adams, also stands out in a key supporting role). The Adams family’s fingerprints are on every inch of Mother of Flies, to the extent that it’s easy to forgive some dodgy CGI because they use gnarly practical gore where it counts (John and Toby also handled the additional practical and makeup effects).

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A witch movie is always a good shout, from The Witch (2015) to Weapons (2025), but Mother of Flies makes an often-villainous character hugely empathetic, particularly when considering the “mother” part of the film’s title. This latest offering from one of the most exciting filmmaking collectives around is esoteric, artsy and super weird, but it also boasts an intriguing story with a satisfying and funny denouement. Mother of Flies works as both an art piece and a successful horror movie overflowing with ooey gooey and creepy-crawly ickiness.

Mother of Flies releases January 23, 2026 on Shudder.

Joey Keogh (@JoeyLDG) is a writer from Dublin, Ireland with an unhealthy appetite for horror movies and Judge Judy. In stark contrast with every other Irish person ever, she’s straight edge. Hello to Jason Isaacs. Thank you for reading film criticism, movie reviews and film reviews at Vague Visages.

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