The Eyes of My Mother

'The Eyes of my Mother' is a morbid and austere little horror flick with a disturbing premise, disturbing imagery and heavy implications. Unfortunately, as with many other prestige horror movies with pretensions to high art, although it's beautifully shot in crisp b/w it suffers from a typical lack of ideas and intellectual depth, resulting in a depressing and empty experience, rather than an exhilarating, educating or illuminating one. Watch it and decide, but don't watch it with the family.

The black and white and the Portuguese fado really set a great atmosphere in this movie. It sets the stage for a horrifying and disturbing story.

But until near the end of the movie nothing actually happens, except for some background story. The few dialogues are monosyllabic, scenes are cut just when they start to get interesting, and the entire movie is interspersed with long dragging static scenes and exaggerated time leaps. Character development here is practically zero.

When the real substance of the plot begins, the movie is 20 minutes from the end.

The choices made here are confusing. The entire movie is about 75 minutes long, and although they abuse static scenes (making it feel a lot longer, by the way), they couldn't spare 3 or 5 more minutes to make a decent ending. The ending is clear to the viewer, but as with all interesting scenes, it is cut short just before the climax.

Spellbinding tale of an unwell, isolated young woman who has no idea that she's unwell. Just a mesmerizing performance by Kika Magalhães in the lead, and shot in exquisite black and white. It's a very dark, off-putting movie, and it's definitely not for everyone. Director Nicolas Pesce makes great use of the film's short running time (under 80 minutes) and relatively claustrophobic atmosphere. VERY well done.

For people who are expecting a slasher or bloody and gore film then this isn't one for you...

Probably one of the best films of this year and the cinematography in black and white is brilliant and just adds to the suspense of the film throughout.

Personally I loved that this film made me feel uncomfortable the entire time never knowing what was going to happen.

It makes you feel sympathetic to the main character but also for the rest of the cast as well in a messed up way!

I am not going to let anything away with this film but for commercial horror fans this isn't for you.

Think the anti Christ without sex but with a stunning female lead who work solo through out and make us fall in love yet hate and also feel Sorry for her all at the same time!

A must see

It has been a while since a film has truly disturbed me. 'The Eyes of My Mother' is a minimalist film with a foreboding sense of isolation that I haven't felt in a long time. As a massive horror fan, few films can cause me to have a sick feeling in my stomach, but this was one of them. Unique, concise and unsettling. There is nothing extra in this film; no fluff, the 1 hour and 16 minute runtime is perfect to accomplish all that is needed.

The limited dialogue and black and white filter give it a surreal aspect, and the POV being from the protagonist solely is quite effective. It invoked feelings of sadness, terror, and disgust while viewing. Ultimately, it was a glimpse into the macabre that we don't get from garden variety Hollywood Horror.