I have to admit that like others viewers I was wondering what I was getting into here because this is a movie in which not much happens for a very long time. It seemed like a lot of atmosphere, some nice cinematography but very little in the way of horror, suspense or great dialogue. Too many movies nowadays , advertised as horror, are nothing but atmosphere. The thing is, this movie , which isn't very long to begin with, redeems itself nicely in the last 15 minutes. It's a shame that the lead up to those 15 minutes was not all that interesting, but what it really needed was a better script. It's worth watching once if you like your horror dark and moody.
21 Reviews
Flies of father.
morrison-dylan-fan20 October 2021
After finding For Roger (2021-also reviewed) to be a disappointing opening title at the online GRIMM Film Festival,I decided to get ready to catch the second movie in the line-up,by following the flies.
View on the film:
Standing outside the family home with the forced out mother, co-writer (with Nadia Doherty) / director Ben Charles Edwards & cinematographer John Bretherton unveil the troubled roots of the family tree with a surrealist mood piece atmosphere, which fleetingly shines in all too brief glimpses, as a masked woman dressed in ghostly white dances in the family home to The Cure song Lullaby.
Placing all the importance on weaving a mood to wash over the viewer as the screenplay remains in a hazy, dreamy state, Edwards takes the fleeting moments of getting into a surrealist Horror groove, and drives them all into the ground, via grinding,repetitive panning shots and zoom-ins which run over each sequence again and again until all mystique has faded with the father.
View on the film:
Standing outside the family home with the forced out mother, co-writer (with Nadia Doherty) / director Ben Charles Edwards & cinematographer John Bretherton unveil the troubled roots of the family tree with a surrealist mood piece atmosphere, which fleetingly shines in all too brief glimpses, as a masked woman dressed in ghostly white dances in the family home to The Cure song Lullaby.
Placing all the importance on weaving a mood to wash over the viewer as the screenplay remains in a hazy, dreamy state, Edwards takes the fleeting moments of getting into a surrealist Horror groove, and drives them all into the ground, via grinding,repetitive panning shots and zoom-ins which run over each sequence again and again until all mystique has faded with the father.
What did I just watch?!?
bren-8757621 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Nothing about this movie made sense. Why was she wearing that mask, is my first question?! If i were the kids, that alone would make me afraid of her. I want to know what that thing is for. Next... Who was the demon?!? The mom? The creepy lady neighbor? The one wearing the mask? I have not a clue who!! I loved the suspense...but it lead up to absolutely nothing. At least nothing that made sense to me. The end was just stupid. Was the boy alive or was he dead? Was mom alive or dead? So was it really only dad, the sister and dad's new woman that was alive and the rest were dead demons? I am left with no answers and complete confusion as to what this movie was about.
I couldn't see a thing, every scene was pitch black.
JaneBingley19 April 2022
I hope the person responsible for the lightning in this movie, never gets to work on movies ever again!
We have a large, new tv, which works perfectly. I sat down to watch (or hear, as it turned out) this movie with my two teenage daughters.
This movie looked like something we would enjoy. I love scares, dread, family being haunted and all that.
One scene is a child (based on the voice, because its impossible to see anything) who claimes there are something hiding under the bed. Since everything is pitch black, I can only assume this scene, and what happens next was scary. And I would loved to have seen it, instead of just listening to it.
I hate this movie! Mostly because of what could have been a great horror story.
We have a large, new tv, which works perfectly. I sat down to watch (or hear, as it turned out) this movie with my two teenage daughters.
This movie looked like something we would enjoy. I love scares, dread, family being haunted and all that.
One scene is a child (based on the voice, because its impossible to see anything) who claimes there are something hiding under the bed. Since everything is pitch black, I can only assume this scene, and what happens next was scary. And I would loved to have seen it, instead of just listening to it.
I hate this movie! Mostly because of what could have been a great horror story.
terrible
piraterider11 April 2022
BORING!!!
powekristoffer20 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
It's definitely a very slow burn. There was no character development, so you really don't care about any of the characters. I would like to have known what happened with the marriage, and why they split up. I would like to know what kind of mental illness the wife had that cause issues in their marriage. I would like to know why the teenage girl was so distraught. I would like to know why the little boy was such a crybaby. Now I do understand how teenagers and young boys operate but besides those facts, I would like to know their personal story. It seems like he substituted one crazy wife for another. What role did the neighbor play was she a witch etc.. so in a nutshell there were a lot of unanswered questions, and honestly I really don't know what happened or what the movie was about. I've watched reviews on YouTube they were unhelpful and have read written reviews on IMDb they were also unhelpful. Plenty of people say they understand what happened but no one actually says what this film was about. So I know apparently the young boy died when his psycho mama took him on her journey to carbon monoxide poisoningville, but what was alI the ghostly stuff at the end. Why did she chase down the teenage daughter and stab her why didn't the teenage daughter just go back to the car which she left running with the windshield wipers going and the door open which was a real s***** thing to do, all because of boyfriend was having a conversation with some other chick. What role did the neighbor play, what was the clown all about. What did the father do after running over his psycho new baby's mama. Just too many unanswered questions for me so it's the one wish I could give it a negative one.
The demon is boredom.
lee_wise_615 May 2022
Firstly a couple of positives... this film is nicely shot. The clown was quite creepy but only in the film for a couple of minutes.
Sadly, that's where the positives end. I didn't like, care about, or sympathise with any of the characters, the plot such as it was made absolutely no sense and the reviews saying 'wait until the last 15 minutes' are lost on me. Nothing happens and the trailer is scarier than the film, must be a question of composition.
I wouldn't say this often, but avoid.
Sadly, that's where the positives end. I didn't like, care about, or sympathise with any of the characters, the plot such as it was made absolutely no sense and the reviews saying 'wait until the last 15 minutes' are lost on me. Nothing happens and the trailer is scarier than the film, must be a question of composition.
I wouldn't say this often, but avoid.
Below average addition to the horror genre that I would recommend skipping
kevin_robbins26 May 2023
Father of Flies (2021) is a movie that I recently watched on Prime. The storyline follows a couple going through a divorce and their children moving in with the dad and his new girlfriend while the mother manages a mental breakdown. As the children and father deal with the divorce and the mental rollercoaster that goes with it, dad's new girlfriend starts to go insane....
This movie is directed by Ben Charles Edwards (Set the Thames of Fire) and stars Camilla Rutherford (Gosford Park), Nicholas Tucci (You're Next), Page Ruth (Shameless), Sandra Andreis (The Girl with the Drahon Tattoo) and Davi Santos (Good Sam).
This movie had some potential based on the authentic storyline, solid acting and good set up of horror elements. The mask, dancing and music created a creepy feel over the villain and what her actions may be. Unfortunately, the potential for the villain never comes to fruition and the attack/kill scenes are poorly executed with nothing to get excited about - no worthwhile kills, gore or attacks that raise your blood pressure. The movie ends up being fairly straightforward and frustrating.
Overall, this is a below average addition to the horror genre that I would recommend skipping. I would score this a 3/10.
This movie is directed by Ben Charles Edwards (Set the Thames of Fire) and stars Camilla Rutherford (Gosford Park), Nicholas Tucci (You're Next), Page Ruth (Shameless), Sandra Andreis (The Girl with the Drahon Tattoo) and Davi Santos (Good Sam).
This movie had some potential based on the authentic storyline, solid acting and good set up of horror elements. The mask, dancing and music created a creepy feel over the villain and what her actions may be. Unfortunately, the potential for the villain never comes to fruition and the attack/kill scenes are poorly executed with nothing to get excited about - no worthwhile kills, gore or attacks that raise your blood pressure. The movie ends up being fairly straightforward and frustrating.
Overall, this is a below average addition to the horror genre that I would recommend skipping. I would score this a 3/10.
Like a weird dream
kayhansen111 September 2022
I'm a bit confused by the overall low rating.
"Father of Flies" is creepy and unusual. Let's call it horror-noir with its monochrome tones and Hitchcockian camera angles. It also keeps you off balance because it seems to take place in an indeterminate 20th-century decade ... until you notice the smart phones. So that's discomfiting.
It has a sort of Jim Jarmusch meets M. Night Shyamalan vibe.
It's thick with menace and the acting is more than competent. (Kudos to young actor, Keaton Tetlo).
I liked it (translation: was creeped out) enough to give it eight stars.
Don't expect the usual jump scares and gore and you won't be disappointed. It's more about the vibe.
You'll feel dread.
"Father of Flies" is creepy and unusual. Let's call it horror-noir with its monochrome tones and Hitchcockian camera angles. It also keeps you off balance because it seems to take place in an indeterminate 20th-century decade ... until you notice the smart phones. So that's discomfiting.
It has a sort of Jim Jarmusch meets M. Night Shyamalan vibe.
It's thick with menace and the acting is more than competent. (Kudos to young actor, Keaton Tetlo).
I liked it (translation: was creeped out) enough to give it eight stars.
Don't expect the usual jump scares and gore and you won't be disappointed. It's more about the vibe.
You'll feel dread.
Softer than shadow, quicker than flies
begob15 April 2022
A father tries to hold his family together when their estranged mother comes knocking.
Stylish psychic horror, but hard to figure out its shape. There's an in/out dynamic, with the mother outside the house and the mistress inside, the mistress switching in and out of wearing a mask, the daughter only having a life when she goes outside, and the father always going out or coming in. But there's above/below as well, used in a couple of scenes with the boy's bed, and in the use of the basement.
I also had trouble figuring out whose story this is. In the end, it's all on the father, and the most effective sequence is his dream, which ends on the adrenalin buzz of a jump scare. But the story-arcs of the other characters go their own way, and the intriguing reveal doesn't really bring them together - at least, not to my satisfaction.
The cinematography is very good, using one impressive swivel-pan as the mistress sits up on the couch, and the shades of brown and grey are elegant. The score is subtle, and the couple of needle-drops are effective, particularly in a dance scene, when the uncanny quality of the masked mistress shifts the sense of unease into dread. There is some problem with dubbing - I thought it might be down to the sound of passing traffic, but it also occurs in one scene in the boy's bedroom.
The performances are very good too, the standout being the true delivery of the boy's expressions of fear. But for all that, I didn't quite get the role of the mistress, so am at a loss to understand what it meant for the father to lose his family. The role of the witchy neighbour is poorly integrated, and the significance of the TV clown unclear, so it seems the story couldn't make up its mind over the divide between the real and the other world. The director/writer has said the story is a working out of his own experience, but I'm not sure he's given enough for us to crack the code. Another thing is that the opening scene puts a lot of emphasis on communications technology, but that theme isn't played out.
As for the frights, the jump scare at 35 mins is the high-point, and otherwise the effect is of brooding menace building to hysteria.
Overall: Unique style to deliver an obscure message.
Stylish psychic horror, but hard to figure out its shape. There's an in/out dynamic, with the mother outside the house and the mistress inside, the mistress switching in and out of wearing a mask, the daughter only having a life when she goes outside, and the father always going out or coming in. But there's above/below as well, used in a couple of scenes with the boy's bed, and in the use of the basement.
I also had trouble figuring out whose story this is. In the end, it's all on the father, and the most effective sequence is his dream, which ends on the adrenalin buzz of a jump scare. But the story-arcs of the other characters go their own way, and the intriguing reveal doesn't really bring them together - at least, not to my satisfaction.
The cinematography is very good, using one impressive swivel-pan as the mistress sits up on the couch, and the shades of brown and grey are elegant. The score is subtle, and the couple of needle-drops are effective, particularly in a dance scene, when the uncanny quality of the masked mistress shifts the sense of unease into dread. There is some problem with dubbing - I thought it might be down to the sound of passing traffic, but it also occurs in one scene in the boy's bedroom.
The performances are very good too, the standout being the true delivery of the boy's expressions of fear. But for all that, I didn't quite get the role of the mistress, so am at a loss to understand what it meant for the father to lose his family. The role of the witchy neighbour is poorly integrated, and the significance of the TV clown unclear, so it seems the story couldn't make up its mind over the divide between the real and the other world. The director/writer has said the story is a working out of his own experience, but I'm not sure he's given enough for us to crack the code. Another thing is that the opening scene puts a lot of emphasis on communications technology, but that theme isn't played out.
As for the frights, the jump scare at 35 mins is the high-point, and otherwise the effect is of brooding menace building to hysteria.
Overall: Unique style to deliver an obscure message.
No flies!
Lilthlee18 June 2022
Daddy got's a new girlfriend and the kiddies don't approve. She stiff, boring and robotic. Addictive to wearing a UV beauty mask, poshly lounges all day, giving dagger eyes to his unruly teenage punk rock daughter & younger deaf brother who's haveing separation anxiety for his biological mother since the move and divorce. Even for the dull moments I was growing more invested with the appearance of a witchy looking next door neighbor, some smooth edited transition scenes, nice cinematographe with saturation In color definitely helps with a #creepy but modern haunting feel for the film. And the sneaky cleverly (been done) jump scares we're entertaining.. part of it felt jumbled like some scenes where out of order or missing not sure. But the finale was so worth sitting though the chaos having you question a rewind watch to see if you missed a clue to that twisted end.
A Messed-up Masterpiece!
DylanCurtisCreative27 April 2022
An extremely well directed and written indie horror. The complexity of the story is that of nothing I've seen in mainstream cinema before. The cinematography is to say the least beautiful, with an unusual but complimentary colour grade.
Be patient with the story as all will be told and unfold in a way like no other.
Fans of psychological horror films will love the thrill and overall story of this incredible horror.
Be patient with the story as all will be told and unfold in a way like no other.
Fans of psychological horror films will love the thrill and overall story of this incredible horror.
Clever Pay Off
Filmtazmic18 April 2022
The story is a little mixed up for the first part of the movie but all becomes clearer in a sudden unexpected way. I don't watch much horror so I found the whole movie very creepy. For a low budget indie it's better than many and I found myself revisiting the story and untangling some of the initial confusion in my mind after I watched it. I jumped a few times and the latter part had me feeling very uncomfortable for all the right reasons. For the most part it's well shot, the score haunting and on the whole the limitations of budget don't spoil the plot albeit it's thread is a little hard to follow at first. Worth a watch.
Visually stunning
Wonderland11113 April 2022
Not without my .. boy
kosmasp10 May 2023
No pun intended - and boy is this a weird one. I totally understand if this does not float your boat. This is weird to say the least. But it also is really good - and it warrants multiple viewings too. I did have to go back to a certain scene myself to check something - and I would say it does make sense.
This is more about what it does with your brain - and with the ... well characters and their destiny and destinations. This is about the individuals - but it also about all of them. It is about family - and what it can be (in the worst case) - broken. You can say that it would be best to find a common ground if you have children - but that does not always actually happen.
Add a supernatural element to it ... and voila, you have a good movie. There is one scary scene in particular (where the boy is in bed telling his dad that there is something under his bed .. I'll leave it at that ... this is great - and will rattle you! Even though you have been warned)! And it still makes sense, even though you may think, but shouldn't ... I can assure you, it fits.
A movie that has you on your toes - not easy to say the least.
This is more about what it does with your brain - and with the ... well characters and their destiny and destinations. This is about the individuals - but it also about all of them. It is about family - and what it can be (in the worst case) - broken. You can say that it would be best to find a common ground if you have children - but that does not always actually happen.
Add a supernatural element to it ... and voila, you have a good movie. There is one scary scene in particular (where the boy is in bed telling his dad that there is something under his bed .. I'll leave it at that ... this is great - and will rattle you! Even though you have been warned)! And it still makes sense, even though you may think, but shouldn't ... I can assure you, it fits.
A movie that has you on your toes - not easy to say the least.
Cartoonish & Creepy
twelve-house-books18 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
At first this film looks like one of the many poorly made so-called Horror films thrown at us through Amazon Prime. But since I usually give even the obviously bad productions a shot, I thought I would do the same for this one, and surprise! Essentially, a 40s-something man has left his wife because she is mentally ill. He has gotten custody of his prepubescent boy and mid-teenaged girl, and he has moved his new girlfriend in. The kids don't like her, and she has no feelings for them either. (There are shades of "The Juniper Tree" here, but only shades.) The camera work is really worth seeing--cartoonish and sparse. And there are classic lead-ups like going down into the dark cellar off the kitchen--and then nothing happens as expected. And then there's the weird therapeutic mask the new woman wears--utterly uncanny. This one is hard to compare to any other Horror film I have seen, but if I had to group it together with other films, I might mention Pyewacket and The Blackcoat's Daughter and maybe Hereditary--although those three are far more terrifying. This is a Ghost Story, by the way.
Stick with it
markdotsevers15 April 2023
In the first 20 minutes I didn't hold up hope that this would be anything more than another low budget horror flick that isn't worth the watch. It is definitely a slow burn, But it's all build up to an ending that does make it worth the journey.
Give it a go all the way through. I feel like the low reviews are from people who turned it off half way through. Which is fair enough a I thought about turning it off at an early stage as well, but I'm glad I stuck with it. It's not going to change your life, and I think a 6 out of 10 is a solid score, but given how many awful and predictable films there are right now, this one is worthy of your time, but not the 3.9.
Give it a go all the way through. I feel like the low reviews are from people who turned it off half way through. Which is fair enough a I thought about turning it off at an early stage as well, but I'm glad I stuck with it. It's not going to change your life, and I think a 6 out of 10 is a solid score, but given how many awful and predictable films there are right now, this one is worthy of your time, but not the 3.9.
Genuinely Dark Indie Horror
thalassafischer11 May 2023
I may be an outlier here but I watched this film not once but twice the first night I saw it. I thought that the subject matter of this film was legitimately tragic; the manner in which the story unfolds creates a general sense of eeriness and then finally bleak horror.
The atmosphere is top notch. Father of Flies brings alive the memory of a suburban winter stillness in the 1990s which perfectly suits the plot. I always appreciate a film where the supernatural is shown to work within the natural, rather than focusing on some fantasy world where ghosts can kill people (they can't) or the day-to-day brutality of a human serial killer murdering people for the fun of it. I like it when a book or movie walks a thin line between psychological and supernatural horror, and this flick is a good example.
The atmosphere is top notch. Father of Flies brings alive the memory of a suburban winter stillness in the 1990s which perfectly suits the plot. I always appreciate a film where the supernatural is shown to work within the natural, rather than focusing on some fantasy world where ghosts can kill people (they can't) or the day-to-day brutality of a human serial killer murdering people for the fun of it. I like it when a book or movie walks a thin line between psychological and supernatural horror, and this flick is a good example.
Watched it twice
mayapluscat21 March 2024
I watched this movie last year, and again tonight.
I adored the dreamlike cinematography. This movie has a melancholic atmosphere to it and you never shake the feeling that something dreadful might happen.
On my second rewatch, I realized there are lots of little clues scattered throughout the film that give away what may have happened.
The characters were just right for the storyline, and the actors performed their roles well. I liked the slight air of ambiguity as to what might have occurred or might be occurring.
There are some genuinely scary moments, which I appreciated even more on the second rewatch. They are probably what upped my rating from a 6 to an 8.
Overall this is a beautifully shot movie, well-acted, with a decent storyline, and some paranormal scares that horror fans may appreciate. I'll probably watch it a third time in the fall or in winter, tucked under my blanket, next to my cat.
I adored the dreamlike cinematography. This movie has a melancholic atmosphere to it and you never shake the feeling that something dreadful might happen.
On my second rewatch, I realized there are lots of little clues scattered throughout the film that give away what may have happened.
The characters were just right for the storyline, and the actors performed their roles well. I liked the slight air of ambiguity as to what might have occurred or might be occurring.
There are some genuinely scary moments, which I appreciated even more on the second rewatch. They are probably what upped my rating from a 6 to an 8.
Overall this is a beautifully shot movie, well-acted, with a decent storyline, and some paranormal scares that horror fans may appreciate. I'll probably watch it a third time in the fall or in winter, tucked under my blanket, next to my cat.
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