Review by Jon Donnis
Father of Flies is a psychological horror from director Ben Charles Edwards.
We are introduced to a family in America, the father of the family Richard, played by the late Nicholas Tucci, has broken up with his wife Linda (Sandra Andreis), who is having a hard time with mental illness. He invites his pregnant girlfriend Coral (Camilla Rutherford) to move in with him, and his children in his house in the mountains. Coral is pregnant and soon to be Michael (Keaton Tetlow) and Donna's (Page Ruth) stepmother.
For some reason Coral likes to wear a super creepy face mask, that makes her look more like Michael Myers than anything, but this is what women go through as part of their beauty regime, or so I am told.
The children are unhappy, Michael has hearing issues and is terrified of monsters under the bed, Donna is a rebellious teen going out with her boyfriend, and doing the usual teen things, and they both hate the new set up with Coral, and as she moves in, that is when things go from bad to worse, as a supernatural entity seems to come with her.
Coral is a cold and unloving person, and clearly lives the clichéd evil stepmother persona well.
The young Michael is the star of the film though, and his performance is what really drags the viewer in. And there is a great scene where he is talking to his dad while in bed, and frustratingly they give that scene away in the trailer! Why would you do that? It is such a well filmed scene, don't give it away for free.
The Good
The way the film is shot is excellent, the loneliness, the bleakness really comes through, and with a story that is as old as time, a mother being replaced, unhappy kids, it is something that many people can relate to, or understand.
The jump scares are well done, and you won't see them coming, which is the whole point. The character of Coral is super creepy, and you could argue that the added supernatural element is not really needed.
The Bad
Some scenes feel rushed, and with a very short run time of about 73 minutes, this really shouldn't happen. Also some scenes are painfully dark, in that it is hard to see what is going on.
Overall
A decent psychological horror, that will have you jump out of your seat more than once.
I score Father of Flies a decent 7/10
On UK digital 11 April 2022 - Watch at https://apple.co/3jkXT9f
