The Eyes of My Mother

The Eyes of My Mother is a 2016 American horror film written, edited and directed by Nicolas Pesce as his directorial debut.

The film was produced by Borderline Presents and Tandem Pictures. It premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival to a polarizing reception and was acquired by Magnet Releasing,^[2] set for release in the United States on December 2, 2016.

Plot

Francisca and her mother live on a farm where they raised cows and other animals. A trained surgeon, Francisca's mother teaches her how to remove eyeballs from farm animals, and is taught the legend of Francis of Assisi. Suddenly, Charlie, a door to door salesman, appears and against her better judgment, Francisca's mother lets him use the bathroom. After a struggle, Charlie kills Francisca's mother, with Charlie injured. Francisca and her father bury Francisca's mother in the backyard while holding Charlie captive in the barn. Charlie explains the incomparable thrill of killing others. Francisca then removes Charlie's eyes and vocal cords. Francisca explains to Charlie that he was not killed because she has no other friends, and tortures Charlie with her mother's surgical implements. Francisca's father later dies and is preserved by Francisca in the bathtub. Charlie is also killed by Francisca as he tries to escape.

Years later, when Francisca becomes an adult, she meets Kimiko, a Japanese student, at a bar. Kimiko and Francisca return to Francisca's home but Kimiko is perturbed at Francisca's depiction of the death of her mother and father and tries to leave. Kimiko is taken captive in the barn, and her eyes and vocal cords are removed. Francisca goes hiking in the woods and catches a ride with Lucy back to the house. Lucy has a baby son who Francisca kidnaps upon reaching the house. Francisca stabs Lucy before praising her dead mother and keeping Lucy's son as her own child, who she names Antonio. Antonio grows into a school age child and is shocked at seeing Kimiko when he enters the barn, which he is told never to go into. Antonio later unlocks the barn and Kimiko escapes. A trucker finds Kimiko and police are called to the barn. After holding her son as a hostage, Francisca is killed by the police.^[3][4][5]

Cast

• Diana Agostini as Mother
• Olivia Boand as Young Francisca
• Will Brill as Charlie
• Joey Curtis-Green as Antonio
• Flora Diaz as Lucy
• Kika Magalhaes as Francisca
• Paul Nazak as Father
• Clara Wong as Kimiko

Release

The Eyes of My Mother premiered in the NEXT section at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2016.^[6] It was acquired by Magnolia Pictures' foreign language film division Magnet Releasing.^[7] It will be released to select theaters and via iTunes, cable/satellite video on demand, and Amazon Video on December 2, 2016.

Reception

The Eyes of My Mother received a polarizing reception, with praise for its execution,^[8] but dividing reviewers on account of its graphic content.^[9] On Rotten Tomatoes, The Eyes of My Mother currently holds a score of 82%, based on 11 reviews, with an average score of 6.9/10.^[10] However, on IMDb, the film holds a rating of 7.3/10, based on 175 votes.^[11]

References

External links

• Official website
• The Eyes of My Mother at the Internet Movie Database
• The Eyes of My Mother at Rotten Tomatoes