Ben Steiner’s “Matriarch”

Matriarch (2022)

Hamfisted storytelling with terrible dialogue led by an awful performance redeemed only by another great turn by Kate Dickie as the titular matriarch in an insincere horror soap opera

This pantomime of a horror like Smile is another film where it feels like the idea came first and the characters were only brought along for the ride as if their creation was an afterthought. It opens with promise until we meet Laura(Jemima Rooper) who is perhaps the worst written leads of 2022 which is charitable because the performance is way over the top though this is partially down to the direction. Motivations are inexplicable; they just seem to happen to push forward with the narrative regardless of any convincing character building.

The visuals on the whole are pretty good and the music is suitably atmospheric, but these things paired with Kate Dickie’s performance isn’t enough to put this film back on the rails. Tonally uneven and a final act which seems to throw random ideas from other films at the viewer makes this a godawful mess. I spent much of the film wondering if this could be edited down into an eerie, silent short; it certainly would be better than what we get here.

Watch the excellent She Will from Charlotte Colbert and give this one a miss.