Fantasia Festival 2025: ‘Mother of Flies,’ a gloriously creepy piece of folk horror

It’s hard to fathom that The Adams Family has managed to craft numerous harrowing and brutally eerie horror films, but their dedication to the work results in nary a dud in the bunch. With their new film, playing this year’s Fantasia Festival, the family filmmaking crew delivers one of their best yet. Mother of Flies is a deeply personal piece that scrapes the skin of humanity, uncovering swollen membrane and the line between life and death. It’s a ticking time bomb, and you’re waiting with bated breath for it to explode in your hands.

Mickey’s (Zelda Adams) cancer has returned, and modern medicine fails her. She seeks out a witch named Solveig (Toby Poser) in the woods, who called to her in her dreams, for unconventional healing. She has nothing to lose at this point, so making such an important decision gives her some sense of control. Her father, Jake (John Adams), has his reservations but willingly sets those aside for the sake of his daughter. After driving out to a secluded, mystical cabin, Solveig greets them with warmth and mystery before welcoming them into her humble home. They will sleep upon beds made of moss and dirt, getting them closer to a natural state of being. They eat of the earth and sacrifice parts of themselves over the three-day journey. To change, one must give of you body.

The sojourn into herself might come for free, but that’ll still cost Mickey more than she may be willing to surrender. Solveig is a kind spirit, but she pushes life to the fringes so Mickey may gaze deeper into death’s merciless eyes. Jake has a lesson or two to learn, as well, about himself, agonizing bodily transformation, and his place in the rituals. Zelda and John command the screen, digging their fingernails into the material and allowing their performances to transmit every nuanced facial expression and line reading. Poser is as subtly weird and eerie as always, offering up one of her best turns that make you question the dividing walls between art and real life.

The Adams Family is an unforgettable bunch. They frequently treat their work with great care, sculpting words and images that linger in your eyeballs long after the credits have rolled. Like crackling embers, Mother of Flies fits snugly next to several recent folk horror favorites, such as Nightsiren and Starve Acre, as a sterling example of the breadth of the genre. There’s an uneasiness that throbs around the corners of the frame, and the creative team knows exactly how to wield that to their advantage, immersing the viewer in a sticky vat of frightening storytelling.

Mother of Flies arrives as one of the best films of the Fantasia Festival. And it’s a shock to no one. What they’ve managed to do here is exemplary work, operating as an essential piece of folk horror we’ll be talking about for years to come.