You Are Not My Mother
A teenage girl investigates her mother's disappearance as Irish folklore and buried family trauma make home feel terrifyingly unfamiliar.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- eerie
- oppressive
- melancholic
- halloween viewing
- late night horror
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's atmospheric Irish folk horror, performances, and emotionally grounded treatment of family trauma, while finding its storytelling uneven.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film draws on Irish folklore, a ritualistic opening, Halloween imagery, and a bonfire setting.
Char becomes unsure whether the woman who returns is truly her mother, making family safety psychologically unstable.
Char investigates her mother's disappearance while coping with bullying, family secrets, and frightening changes in adult behavior.
Parental mental illness, postpartum depression, and a mother-daughter relationship under strain shape Char's understanding of events.
Films like You Are Not My Mother, and why
The Hallow
shared folk horror atmosphere, family trauma, and unsettling rural-cultural mythology
The Babadook
shared maternal anxiety, psychological distress, and intimate body-centered horror
The Hole in the Ground
shared irish folklore, eerie transformations, and dread rooted in family relationships
Gretel & Hansel
shared coming-of-age perspective, folkloric horror, and oppressive domestic unease
Movie Details
- Director
- Kate Dolan
- Release Date
- 2022-03-04
- Runtime
- 93 min
- Rating
- 5.6 / 10 (146)
Cast
- Hazel Doupe
- Carolyn Bracken
- Jordanne Jones
- Florence Adebamo
- Katie White
- Paul Reid
- Ingrid Craigie
- Colin Peppard
- Martin O'Sullivan
- Aoife Spratt
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel, Monsters and Nightmares Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is You Are Not My Mother about?
- A teenage girl investigates her mother's disappearance as Irish folklore and buried family trauma make home feel terrifyingly unfamiliar.
- What is You Are Not My Mother like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of You Are Not My Mother as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is You Are Not My Mother violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in You Are Not My Mother as mild.
- What did critics think of You Are Not My Mother?
- Critics broadly praised the film's atmospheric Irish folk horror, performances, and emotionally grounded treatment of family trauma, while finding its storytelling uneven.
- Which films are like You Are Not My Mother?
- Films with a similar feel include The Hallow, The Babadook, The Hole in the Ground, and Gretel & Hansel.
- How long is You Are Not My Mother?
- You Are Not My Mother runs 93 minutes.
- Where can I watch You Are Not My Mother?
- In United States, You Are Not My Mother streams on Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel, Monsters and Nightmares Amazon Channel.
