You are not my Mother

Directed by Kate Dolan, You are not my Mother follows Hazel Doupe’s Char as she becomes convinced that her mentally-unstable mother (Carolyn Bracken’s Angela) is literally a different person after returning from a short disappearance. First-time filmmaker Dolan, armed with her own screenplay, kicks You are not my Mother off with an admittedly striking, attention-grabbing opening sequence that certainly holds plenty of promise, with the picture, beyond that point, seguing into an exceedingly (and excessively) deliberate midsection that contains few standout sequences or digressions. (There is, for example, an absolutely pointless recurring subplot involving several of Char’s bullies, with the disagreeable, distasteful bent of such moments ultimately exacerbated by a lack of a compelling payoff.) It’s clear, certainly, that the movie’s slowest-of-slow-burns atmosphere goes a long way towards perpetuating the decidedly less-than-captivating midsection, and there’s little doubt, as well, that the all-too-infrequent jolts are hardly effective enough to resuscitate the viewer’s dwindling interest. By the time the underwhelming finale rolls around, You are not my Mother has cemented its place as a disappointing endeavor that feels as though it could only have worked as a 15 minute short.

** out of ****