Mom: She who brings you milk, and twists the knife.
When one considers how easy it is to become a parent, and how often parents don't face and fix their psychological problems, the message of this short film is all too believable.
This movie deftly brings out the vulnerability of children. How innocent they are, as they pore over picture books and slumber under the covers. Yet in the house of insanity there is neither refuge nor resistance.
I hadn't realized I'd be seeing this film, as it was presented as a short during the free Friday-night film series at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Once I realized what the movie was about, I was relieved to see that the killings were stylized and involved no real violence or blood-letting. This lack underscored the movie's allegory and universality -- about the toxic effects of bad parenting in the family, what the book "Soul Murder" calls "God's little concentration camps." Resistance is futile.
Sheryl Sutton is chilling as she betrays no emotion. Her children are trusting and accept what she offers, be it sustenance or homicide. There is nowhere to hide.
In a movie withut dialogue, sound is used to stunning effect. Ordinary sounds manipulate and magnify to scary effect, to the point we may fear a dripping faucet. In the end, all we hear is a chirp of outdoor crickets. Nature is the ultimate balm.
When one considers how easy it is to become a parent, and how often parents don't face and fix their psychological problems, the message of this short film is all too believable.
This movie deftly brings out the vulnerability of children. How innocent they are, as they pore over picture books and slumber under the covers. Yet in the house of insanity there is neither refuge nor resistance.
I hadn't realized I'd be seeing this film, as it was presented as a short during the free Friday-night film series at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Once I realized what the movie was about, I was relieved to see that the killings were stylized and involved no real violence or blood-letting. This lack underscored the movie's allegory and universality -- about the toxic effects of bad parenting in the family, what the book "Soul Murder" calls "God's little concentration camps." Resistance is futile.
Sheryl Sutton is chilling as she betrays no emotion. Her children are trusting and accept what she offers, be it sustenance or homicide. There is nowhere to hide.
In a movie withut dialogue, sound is used to stunning effect. Ordinary sounds manipulate and magnify to scary effect, to the point we may fear a dripping faucet. In the end, all we hear is a chirp of outdoor crickets. Nature is the ultimate balm.