A Mother's Recall - Festival Review

A select few horror films possess the ability to remain scary after the lights are turned back on and reality seeps in. Creaky doors that move on their own, ghostly apparitions and inhuman figures are generally nerve-inducing, with the associated jump scares and startling imagery being enough to cause temporary, entertaining frights. However, when a horror film manages to work its way into our minds, surviving outside of the screen, then it transcends into full psychological resonance. Argentinean director Mauro Iván Ojeda's 'A Mother's Recall'/ 'Memoria de una Madre'manages to achieve this particular type of powerful viewing experience. 

At the centre of the film is Genaro (Santino Resta), a teenage boy who is adopted by a married couple, Adelina (Vilma Echeverría) and Aurelio (Edgardo Molinelli). Upon arriving, he meets his new siblings, the enigmatic Nuria (Julieta Palermo) and the quiet Samuel (Mateo Berti Tallarico). Despite leaving the orphanage and joining a family, it is not long before Genaro notices that something sinister lies beneath the surface of his new home. Sharing his suspicions is Nuria, who has long sensed that evil lurks within the walls of this family. Together, the pair must unite to uncover the deadly mystery before it is too late. 

A home ought to be warm and protective from outside forces, making the idea of malice lying in wait in the most intimate of spaces translate to a truly creepy sensation. It is this notion of horrifying events occurring in the place where Genaro is finally meant to feel safe that makes the idea behind A Mother's Recall so bloodcurdling. The notion of being continuously watched, the knowing that the threatening forces are with you every step of the way and the subsequent visceral feelings of inescapable dread are what the film is fuelled by. This deeply inherent fear of inexorable terror speaks to the calculated narrative that seems to be driven by our intense fear. 

How exactly A Mother's Recall sets up and then accomplishes its potent ferocity speaks to director Ojeda's talents. Where Ojeda stands out and takes the film and its premise from being eerie to completely nightmarish is his unique take on staging the scares. Simple interruptions of loud sounds followed by a startling image are an elemental means to instigate a reaction. Instead, A Mother's Recall relies on the increasingly intense atmosphere to slowly build up the perfect environment for a startling fright, forcing a wave of full-body chills to wash over even the most hardened of viewers. 

Sparing any spoilers, the film maintains this haunting ambience right up until the credits roll due to the incredible, transformative, gory makeup and effects. The hellish design of the film's monstrous force can only be described by the word 'repugnant'. There is something so sincerely otherworldly about images of the abject. It's a strange feeling where we so desperately want to shield our eyes from the gross horror, but somehow, we are so enthralled by the sheer magnitude of the uncanny that we do not want to miss a single frame. This deeply layered philosophy is something that Ojeda fully understands and employs throughout A Mother's Recall. 

How exactly this is achieved on a stylistic level is nothing less than exemplary. A Mother's Recall's antagonistic design echoes the absurdity seen in 'The Thing' (1982) and the abhorrent nature of 'The Fly' (1986). Just as seen within horror cinema classics, the film infuses the stylised aesthetics with a punch of gut-deep repulsion. In other words, we feel, imagine and internalise every vicious display of hellish horror. 

Similar to Ojeda's previous feature, 'The Funeral Home'/ 'La Funeraria' (2020), A Mother's Recall additionally aims at distorting domesticity, forming a sense of doom in the most unsuspecting of places. The familial bonds in the film do not resemble anything less than freakish, with Adelina and Aurelio's relationship as the heads of the brood being honestly quite odd. Following this is Samuel, whose alliance towards his parents and siblings is continuously strange and misaligned. Lastly is Nuria, who exhibits some truly offbeat quirks, leaving Genaro in a battlefield of untrustworthy madness. Here, a particular applause is owed to the actors appearing throughout the film, with every performance being key to the film's successful interpretation of disturbed familial ties. 

A Mother's Recall is by far an easy watch. Each scene is caked in some form of the uncanny, both entrancing and distressing the viewer every step of the way. Not only is this film not to be missed, but it is also not to be underestimated. 

Catch the world premiere of the incredible A Mother's Recall on Saturday, 27^th September at 12 pm, at the Dead Northern Film Festival. 

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