‘Mother, May I?’ is a Dark Psychological Drama with Unique Horror Elements

I not only thoroughly enjoyed Mother, May I? but I also learned something from it. Under no circumstances, should you take magic mushrooms in the home of your recently deceased mother, along with a significant other who enjoys poking at your deepest and darkest traumatic history that took place in that very house, with said mother. Psychedelic drugs, death, and trauma is the holy trinity of stuff we all try to avoid. Well, maybe not the drugs… 

Mother, May I? is the theatrical debut of writer/director Laurence Vannicelli, starring Holland Roden (Teen Wolf) and Kyle Gallner (Smile) as Anya and Emmett, respectively. Anya and Emmett are a happy young couple who reside in New York City. Unfortunately, Emmett’s mother passes, and the movie opens with Emmett inheriting his mother’s house in remote upstate New York. Right off the bat, the clever use of the first two scenes stood out to me, as they illustrated just how non-existent his relationship with his mother was. It is clear five minutes into the movie without any real exposition how strained that relationship is between mother and son. Emmett’s emotionless reaction to the passing as well as his pushback to pay for a real urn for his mother’s ashes was all the audience needed to understand that A) their relationship sucks and B) Emmett might just be a prick. Both A and B options contribute to the mystery as the movie plays out…

Anya and Emmett pack their bags, and their magic mushrooms, and head up to the remote home that Emmett just inherited, with hopes of selling it in the near future. Anya and Emmett have a good relationship, the performers are both really good at their jobs and they make sense as an onscreen couple. Holland Rowen has had a long career in genre television and movies, so she is a great fit for the Anya character. One of my favorites is still her brief appearance as a victim in a very solid C.S.I. episode, Goodbye and Good Luck. Kyle Gallner has had an interesting career but most recently has morphed into this generation’s John Saxon-esque character actor. Gallner has starred in or supported in many horror films in recent years, most notably my favorite performance and movie of his, The Cleansing Hour… 

Upon Anya and Emmett’s arrival at the house, it seems like Emmett should be uncomfortable, but he is oddly jovial. The house is a farmhouse on the exterior in a remote but not heavily wooded area, with a lake in the backyard. The interior is a modern open floor plan, with portraits of the mother doing yoga and other meditative poses, but no reference to Emmett anywhere in sight. That is, until Anya is able to find home videos of Emmett as a little boy, having fun on the property with his mother. Important to note by the way that Emmett’s father is not in the picture, and never was in the picture. Emmett is slightly traumatized by the home videos but is able to hold it together enough to move on. The question the audience, as well as myself, have at this point is what happened between Emmett and his mother? There are brief references to his horrible upbringing and how he ran away from home as a little boy, never seeing his mother again. But the audience doesn’t know exactly why. Well unfortunately for Emmett, and fortunately for the audience, Anya’s mother is a psychologist with intense methods that Anya likes to use herself with Emmett. This method consists of starting a timer for one minute and using that minute to confront one another on anything and everything that makes them uncomfortable to the bone. It is basically just role play and a dramatic way to have a deep conversation. But these conversations, particularly in this house, is something Emmett is desperate to avoid, but Anya continuously coerces him into participating, and he does, to her behest…

Let’s cut to Anya and Emmett taking magic mushrooms. Anya and Emmett trip, have some fun messing around on the property doing odd things, high as kites. We learn here that Anya doesn’t know how to swim, but Emmett convinces her to take a swim anyway, and holds her steady as she tries to enjoy being in the water in a bizarre scene to watch, but important to note for later. Anya and Emmett trip through the night, and then wake up to the worst possible trip continuation/post-trip hangover of all time. From here on out, the dark themes of the movie are deeply explored…

In a strange turn of events, Emmett arises from the mushroom trip groggy and hungry, while Anya arises from the mushroom trip as Emmett’s mother. Anya inexplicably assumes the identity of Emmett’s mom, and for days on end, Emmett is trying to figure out what is happening with Anya, even thinking it is a psychological tactic in order to confront his trauma head-on once he realizes that she is impersonating his mom. I thought the movie hit its peak during this stretch, as both performers excelled at keeping up with the seriousness, but having some funny moments as well, particularly when the realtor visits to begin the process of selling the property. Holland Roden does a great job creating the mother character with odd quirks and a unique way of talking, and Kyle Gallner plays the exasperated and confused boyfriend very well. Gallner has very underrated comedic chops, and perfect charisma for genre movies. The back and forth between Anya and Emmett continues during the stretch, and their interactions with visitors, like the aforementioned listing agent, as well as the neighbor, Bill. Bill’s appearances are brief, but rich with some much needed outside perspective on both the mother, and Emmett as a young boy, these interactions add fuel to the fire, and the conflict between Anya and Emmett develops from a weird role-playing scenario and transitions into a very real conflict between boyfriend and girlfriend, and their lingering issues with each other finally make its way to the surface…

For a debut feature film, the direction of Mother, May I? is outstanding. The movie feels very unique and while sticking to the formulaic structure of a horror movie, still maintains its originality with a dark, dense, and focused dramatic story. There is hardly a wasted line of dialogue or scene that lingers too long. Mother, May I? takes place in a singular location basically, the farmhouse, but does not feel claustrophobic at any point and no shot feels repetitive. The location alone is perfect for this story, but the way it was shot and covered was extremely sharp. The supernatural phenomena scenes are all very unique to this movie, terrifying and unpredictable. Not unpredictable in a jump scare way, but unpredictable in not expecting that to be the payoff their way. Mother, May I? trades jump scares for atmospheric dread and terror, with a mix of some of my favorite horror movie shots of the year. All very impressive stuff from a young filmmaker…

Even though the question I had early on about what happened with Emmett and his mother is only about 25% answered by the end, and the movie ends rather ambiguously, I was still very satisfied by the end result. Mother, May I? isn’t interested in solving the mystery of what happened to Emmett exactly, and also isn’t interested in typical jump scare setup and payoff. This movie wants to explore the difficulty of coping with said trauma, the effects it can have psychologically and especially coping with someone else who is dealing with similar demons as well. Towards the end, the supernatural elements were weaved into the story so perfectly, they maintained an outstanding scare quality, while also serving as an interesting pivot to how ghosts in movies like this act. The supernatural entity in Mother, May I? of course, being the mother, flipped from a Parker Crane from Insidious type ghoul and was more so a grieving and subdued(ish) ghost, like in The Sixth Sense, but not totally going as far as being friendly. The ambiguous finale was a great bookend to the movie as it perfectly encapsulates how this couple’s lives will continue on. Without real closure, these ghosts of their pasts will always be lurking in the shadows…

Wicked Horror Rating: 7/10

From Dark Sky Films, Mother, May I? will release theatrically in limited cities, and will also be available via VOD, on July 21st, 2023.

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