MOTHER AND ME

***

Directed by Carson McKinnon.

Starring Caylee Cowan, Tara Janae Smith, Brady Noon, Isaac Akers.

USA, 2026, 100 mins 

Reviewed as part of Tubi FrightFest 2026

Shot in nine days in cinematographer/writer/director Carson McKinnon’s home town of Salt Lake City, this small-scale but effectively intense psychological horror channels films like DOGTOOTH and CARRIE with its oppressed, sheltered central teenage character.

Caylee Cowan is excellent as Casey, a young woman who dreams of being a dancer but lives in the shadow of a controlling mother (an impressive Tara Janae Smith), who puts her under relentless pressure to write a book (on a marvellous old Remington typewriter). While Mom chain smokes, binges on booze and endlessly reminds Casey of enduring resentment for her existence (“I stopped drinking for you, I got stretch marks for you”), a glimmer of hope emerges in a friendly young neighbour/horror fan (Brady Noon) who introduces her to things she doesn’t know, from pop music and movies to the events of September 11th.

McKinnon confines us to the house with his empathetically portrayed protagonist but keeps things visually interesting with offbeat angles, disarming subjective shots and split-focus to heighten the unease. Noon is a likeable counter to the relentless gloom of Casey’s existence, while Smith excels as the embittered, unstable mother, afforded moments of relative calm in which her own vulnerability and insecurities are exposed. It’s somewhat overlong and can’t quite sustain the tension, but the striking final image is worth waiting for.

Steven West