There’s a line early in Mother of Flies that hits like a revelation:
“The difference between the poison and a curse is the dose.”
Much like that line, the entire film operates in dualities — pain and healing, love and isolation, life and death — and in that tension, the Adams Family doesn’t just make a movie. They make a memory. One that lingers.
Fresh off winning Best Film at Fantasia Fest 2025, Mother of Flies marks the latest and most spiritually jarring project by the genre-bending trio of Zelda Adams, John Adams, and Toby Poser. Known to indie horror circles for The Deeper You Dig and Where the Devil Roams, the family now lands with a firm, echoing step into the lo-fi horror hall of fame.
A Haunting That Feels Personal and Communal
Set in a remote East Coast wilderness (the Catskills, specifically), the story follows Mickey (Zelda Adams), a young woman with cancer, and her father Jake (John Adams), who seeks help from a mysterious healer-witch named Solveig (Toby Poser). What begins as a supernatural fable slowly transforms into a deeply unsettling examination of grief, illness, and family bonds breaking under cosmic pressure.
What sets Mother of Flies apart is how deeply personal it feels. The dialogue is steeped in real pain — the kind families only expose to each other when there’s no one left to impress. You don’t need to relate to cancer, or witches, or punk rock mysticism to feel the crushing weight of what’s unsaid between this father and daughter. It’s the ache of unfinished conversations — the kind many of us carry long after loved ones are gone.
Imperfect Visuals, Perfect Emotion
This isn’t a polished studio horror film. It doesn’t want to be. The Adamses embrace the lo-fi aesthetic not as a limitation, but as a signature. The visuals are raw. Some cuts are sharp; others are frayed. And yet, every frame is alive — often in the uncomfortable ways that make horror great.
Like the best of found-footage energy without being found-footage, the movie rattles and breathes, matching its characters’ inner turbulence. The dialogue is eerie, sometimes stilted, but never feels false. Instead, it creates a strange spiritual rhythm — a ritual of grief disguised as a movie.
Zelda Adams Shines Amid a Trio of Powerhouses
If Mother of Flies is a conversation, Zelda Adams is its scream. Her performance — torn between defiance and resignation — anchors the film with such magnetic force that her anguish becomes universal. Every wince, every whispered plea to be left alone, hits like a punch to the soul.
John Adams, playing the well-meaning but crumbling father, gives a quieter, more fragile performance, desperately trying to hold a future that’s already slipping through his fingers.
And then there’s Toby Poser — mesmerizing as Solveig, the witch with a grim sort of grace. Her character’s mysticism never crosses into cliché; instead, it grounds the film with a maternal strength that both soothes and threatens.
Horror That Lingers — If You Let It
Make no mistake: Mother of Flies is horror. But it’s not about jump scares or monsters in the dark. It’s about the monsters inside our silences, the fear of losing those we’ve barely begun to understand, the horror of being left with regrets. There’s something universal — and devastating — about a young person confronting mortality, especially when the roles of protector and protected are reversed.
The Adamses don’t give you a clean escape. Instead, they present a story that asks you to sit in the grief, to look inward. If you’re willing, this film will move you more than most big-budget features with ten times the effects.
The Sound of Grief, the Echo of Legacy
Scored by their own punk band H6LLB6ND6R, the film pulses with sonic urgency. The music veers between ethereal folk and garage punk chaos, giving the story a heartbeat — sometimes gentle, sometimes violent. It perfectly complements a narrative that swings between spiritual and apocalyptic.
For those familiar with the Blair Witch legacy, there’s a shared East Coast eeriness here. But Mother of Flies isn’t imitating — it’s evolving. It’s not trying to scare you with the woods. It’s trying to scare you with what might be left unsaid before the last breath is taken.
Final Verdict: Imperfect, Personal, Unforgettable
Mother of Flies is not for everyone. Its lo-fi nature, nonlinear pacing, and experimental tone will challenge casual horror fans. But for those willing to engage with it — to truly let it crawl under the skin — it’s a revelation.
The Adams Family has officially earned their place in the genre as lo-fi horror’s most emotionally resonant auteurs. This is not just a film; it’s a message in a bottle — sent from a family mourning, questioning, and reflecting in real time.
Rating: 4.5/5
A daring and emotionally devastating horror tale that lingers like a ghost you wish had stayed to talk a little longer.
Stay tuned to InvestRecords for more indie horror coverage, filmmaker spotlights, and streaming updates on Mother of Flies ahead of its upcoming release on Shudder.