2026 The Voices of Our Mother

• Director: Mark O’Brien
• Writers: Mark O’Brien
• Stars: Sheila McCarthy, Georgina Reilly, Mark O’Brien, Carolina Bartczak, Alex Ozerov-Meyer
• Runtime: 93 minutes (1 hour 33 minutes)
• Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yupFYNF5mgw
  

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

A complicated family relationship is made worse when four siblings return home to help out their ailing mother, who seems to either be possessed or have dementia. Either way, she’s not right and things get worse as the movie progresses and things get worse. Mark O’Brien does a really good job as writer, director, and one of the siblings. It builds steadily to a conclusion that was pretty satisfying. We both enjoyed it.

Spoilery Synopsis

A woman reads a book but stops when she hears something large stomping around outside. The thing tears the door off and the fireplace suddenly goes crazy. She grabs a gun, but that’s not going to help. “You’re mine and no one else’s,” says the monstrous voice. “I need your help, Annika.” Then she sits up– it was a nightmare. Later, Annika remembers talking to her grandma about helping her mother. Credits roll.

Two old women sit in church, almost the only ones there, and listen to Father Roslovic’s sermon. They go home and one reads a story to the other. Harriet is Johanna’s daughter, and she’s got problems. “You’re mine and no one else’s,” Johanna repeats over and over. In the morning, Johanna is dead. Harriet dramatically crawls to the phone to call for help.

Therese, William, and Martin are the children, and they all soon arrive. Dr. Meyer talks to them about Harriet, who seems to be healthier and mentally like a child now. It wasn’t a stroke, it’s not dementia, it’s something else. William is bitter about the whole thing and thinks Harriet should be institutionalized.

Annika, the fourth child, is a nun, and she doesn’t really want to go home, but the other nuns convince her that she should; she talks about being abused by her father.

The three siblings take Harriet home, and Annike is there waiting for them. We take a little time to learn all the siblings’ problems. William is broke and has a gambling problem. Therese is an angry widow. Martin is a useless junkie and was written out of the will.

At the funeral service the next day, Harriet freaks out and punches the preacher. She’s soon back in the hospital, but the doctors can’t find a problem.

Therese accuses William of having an affair with her dead wife and may have been the one who killed her. She’s got a bit of a grudge. As they all argue, Harriet starts laughing upstairs. Harriet says the others have done awful things, they aren’t pure like Annika. They got Martin to kill their father and maybe Therese’s wife as well. Then Harriet walks out the window and vanishes.

Annika finds Harriet standing outside the church, just staring. They take her home and build a jail cell in the basement for her. Father Roslovic comes over and talks about her odd behavior. Is she possessed? This leads to more arguing. Annika insists that they let the priest assess Harriet.

It soon becomes clear that Harriet is possessed, big time. Grandma’s prayers were holding the thing back, but now it’s free to “infect” all of them. She’s not subtle about it. The priest says the demon is feeding on the family conflict; their father was really a good man until Harriet corrupted him.

The siblings all get drunk, and Martin admits to shooting their father with William’s help. Harriet bangs on the wall in the basement as they all yell at each other. Therese and William decide it’s time to just kill Harriet. Annika tells about the time her grandma asked her to take care of Harriet the way she did, so this is technically all her problem now. She knows the whole story about how Grandma made a deal with Satan.

Father Roslic gets a letter mailed by Johanna before her death with some instructions.

Martin decides to come clean about killing their father, and William attacks him to prevent him from leaving and going to the police. Before long, William and Therese are dead. Martin then shoots himself, leaving Annika alone in the house with Harriet.

Annika hears the big demon stomping around upstairs and takes the gun. Roslovic comes in and hands her the instructions before he is also killed.

As the house burns around her, Annika finally sees the gargoyle-like demon that is really her mother. She prays really hard, and the demon goes away. Harriet is there, and she looks normal again. Since smoke inhalation isn’t a thing in horror movies, Annika picks up the old woman and carries her outside through the burning house. “You’re mine and no one else’s,” she repeats over and over.

Brian’s Commentary

It starts off really slow, with lots of family drama, but it gets more and more ominous as it proceeds. At least we didn’t have to sit through another exorcism.

I didn’t quite understand what Harriet was, but the ending is far from a happy one. What happens when Harriet eventually dies of old age or something?

Kevin’s Commentary

It was a good script, weaving the family drama and issues into the supernatural and amplifying things.

All the effects were good, but I thought the demon effect at the end was especially cool.

I liked the double implication of “You’re mine and no one else’s,” which could be ominous or benevolent.

I dug it. It was very good.