The Eyes of My Mother

Plot synopsis:
Francisca and her mother live on a farm where they raise 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 asks to use her bathroom. Against her better judgment, Francisca's mother lets him into the house. After a struggle, Charlie kills Francisca's mother. Charlie is injured, presumably by Francisca's father, who arrives home while Charlie is still attacking the mother in the bathtub. Francisca's father seems undisturbed by these events and chains Charlie in the barn. Francisca and her father bury Francisca's mother in the backyard. Charlie explains the incomparable thrill of killing others. Off camera, Francisca removes Charlie's eyes and vocal cords and bags them and onscreen puts them in the refrigerator. Francisca explains to Charlie that he was not killed because he is her only friend and she will look after him. Over time she tortures him with her mother's surgical implements.
Years later, the adult Francisca's father dies, and she preserves the body. She meets Kimiko, a Japanese student, at a bar. Kimiko and Francisca return to Francisca's home but Kimiko is perturbed at Francisca's description of the death of her mother and the revelation that she murdered her father. Kimiko tries to leave, but Francisca murders her and offscreen chops her up and bags the organs, putting them in her refrigerator with Charlie's and presumably her father's parts.
Afterwards, she bathes Charlie, who was still chained up in the shed, and it is assumed that she has sex with him. Charlie is then stabbed by Francisca as he tries to escape. Back in the barn, she admits he was right about murder and kills him.
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. Like Charlie, Lucy has her eyes and vocal cords cut out by Francisca, but this time her surgery is visible.
Antonio grows into a school age child and is shocked at seeing Lucy when he enters the barn, which he is told never to go into. Antonio later unlocks the barn and Lucy escapes. A trucker finds Lucy and police are called to the barn. Francisca is shown digging up the grave of her mother in the woods while talking to her skull. After holding her son as a hostage, Francisca is killed by the police.

Tags: tragedy, violence, murder, dark, sadist

Review:
It defies belief that some film makers can make dozens of films throughout their career, garnering experience the entire time, and never make a film half as good as 'The Eyes of My Mother', and then someone can come along on their very first attempt and achieve this masterpiece.
For people who are expecting a slasher or bloody and gore film then this isn't one for you...Probably one of the best films of this year and the cinematography in black and white is brilliant and just adds to the suspense of the film throughout.Personally I loved that this film made me feel uncomfortable the entire time never knowing what was going to happen.It makes you feel sympathetic to the main character but also for the rest of the cast as well in a messed up way!
I am not going to let anything away with this film but for commercial horror fans this isn't for you.Think the anti Christ without sex but with a stunning female lead who work solo through out and make us fall in love yet hate and also feel Sorry for her all at the same time!
The movie starts with the shot that let's you know it's going to be a black and white film, totally setting the tone.The film is about a girl name Francesca who lives a very isolated life on a farm with her mom and dad.
This is when we learn what it's like for a little girl to become a woman literally all by herself.Francesca experience some pretty violent acts as a child that were treated like every day life and with no one to teach her otherwise, she grows up with little to no filter on the value of human life, except for that one raw emotion she has not to be alone, but one that she has not learned how deal with like the rest of us.This was like watching the slow development of like Micheal Myers or Jason Voorhees.
It's really a stroke of good fortune nobody opened a camp in the near by area.It's a very quiet story of horror, so quiet it does not really register as one, it also has elements of torture porn, which, like the horror is very quiet, but it only makes the actions of Francesca more disturbing to watch as she tries and fails to figure out how to make friends and start a new family, which produces deadly results.An amazing work of art that I would recommend for horror fans.http://cinemagardens.com.
Unfortunately, as with many other prestige horror movies with pretensions to high art, although it's beautifully shot in crisp b/w it suffers from a typical lack of ideas and intellectual depth, resulting in a depressing and empty experience, rather than an exhilarating, educating or illuminating one.
The Eyes of My Mother is an insightful, meaningful, and exquisitely beautiful horror film, and undoubtedly one of the genre's most important offerings ..
The film is originally shot in black and white which truly adds to the unsettling nature of what takes place during the entire 76 minute duration.
This is truly Americana in its darkest form.The film starts off with the Diana Agostini and Olivia Bond (who plays a younger Francisca) as her mom was teaching her how to surgically remove eyeballs from the cows, which is quite a disturbing start but it leads the audience into the person she is to become in her later years.
This act of violence leads the young girl unbeknowningly down a dark path, as she learns about life, love, and death in her own dark way.Years later and now a mature and beautiful woman played by Kika Magalhães, she tries to coexist with society with some horrifying results.
It's worlds apart in regards to what we tend to label as horror — no jump scares, no boogeyman to run from, and a distinct lack of gratuitous gore has allowed this film to standout as a genuine psychological terror.
Just because the movie is shot in black and has slow tempo it doesn't make it a work of art, nevertheless a good (horror) movie.
This movie has no story at all, just a bunch of stupid actions that someone decided to write and film.
The movie feels slow, the few other characters have short screen time and are usually mute, and the movie is in drab black and white.Being a psychopath, Fransisca feels absolutely nothing for anybody else, and has no qualms about what she does to others to fulfill her own desires.
The entire movie is about 75 minutes long, and although they abuse static scenes (making it feel a lot longer, by the way), they couldn't spare 3 or 5 more minutes to make a decent ending.
Seriously, the "horror" tag should be removed from the genre section 'cause it's quite misleading.The black and white element was successful to me - it made splatter scenes less unpleasant - and gave the movie a noir atmosphere at points.
Sometimes slow all the way through is a good thing in a movie, even if you are like me, where it's normally not your cup of tea.
This is a difficult one, i mean, it's a horror story but everything is done off-camera so no red stuff or to be honest nothing at all and still some do find it rather creepy.Being shot in black and white doesn't make it easier to watch.
Most horror movies these days (or any kind) don't have much happening on the subconscious level, a lot of them tend to be more self-conscious, skating along on the surface, with twists and turns in the plot, jump scares, etc., but occasionally a film comes along that taps right into the unconscious, ala "Night of the Hunter", "Psycho" - I would consider "Eyes" to fit in that grand company.
Telling the story of a Young girl who is thrust into a life of hardship and loneliness, The Eyes of My Mother portrays itself in a very unsettling black and White tone.
It's unique, disturbing and more horrific than all the slasher, gore-fests out there.I've been a lover of horror films most of my life but have soured over the past 10 - 15 years due to the lack of imagination and cookie cutter plots that have inundated the genre.
I predict great films from him.If you like a different kind of horror story, please watch this film!.
To think that a child could evolve into something that morbid is absolutely terrifying and even though this is fiction it definitely had me wondering about all sorts of things.The fact that the film is entirely shown in black and white added to the isolated and grisly atmosphere.
And the way the scenes were filmed, following Francisca around, emphasised her gracefulness in all movements, regardless of whether affection or horror inducing.Being Portuguese, it bothered me that the mother and child characters did not speak the language well, especially when the grown Francisca was obviously native.
There is such a psychological depth to this movie, and a perfect balance between macabre and normalcy that I never knew was possible in a horror film.Even if not perfect plotwise, The Eyes of My Mother will surely stay with me for a long time.
Director Nicolas Pesce makes great use of the film's short running time (under 80 minutes) and relatively claustrophobic atmosphere.
The fact that this movie is rated as high as it is, makes me want to puke.I'm a big horror fan.
I personally did not like the fact it's in black and white and the acting is so terrible and the story as no meaning it's so ridiculous and the movie just was not interesting.
The horror and the disturbance, in black and white (the most suitable media to express the light and the darkness of time) crosses the eyes of the spectators and the characters; and this horror tinged with the sadness of fado, the Portuguese songs that seem even more desolate in the immensities of the North American prairies (almost as in those typical Russian songs, where there is always a husband, a son or a mother, lost in the war, or winter, and that never returns), in the end, recreates an appearance of pain, the illusion of a self-contained picture that closes on itself and from which the viewer can not easily escape.
Camera angles, blocking of the actors and symmetry of each bit of the movie is many times lacking in what we are watching in today's horror films, you know what's happening, it is bothersome without buckets of blood.
Slow black and white wannabe horror movie.
For a horror movie I see that The Eyes Of My Mother gets a high rating on here.
It's a mediocre horror movie with a very slow story.
And despite what the genre claims to be, this is not a horror.You expect something to happen during the movie to make it worthwhile watching, but this movie just teases you with very boring scenes until the very end.Imagine a movie that has a continuous prologue which lasts 70 minutes and then just ends without anything interesting happening.No actions, no story and funnily enough not even a sight of dialogue.
It's not a typical horror movie for sure, but it's a film that will follow you and that stays with you long after you watch it.
She is a dark, brutal character who's actions make you terrified of her but in a weird way watching her try to socialize and live a normal life brings out some sort of an innocence in her that makes you feel sympathy for her and Kika Magalhaes manages to bring out both of those sides of her beautifully.The bottom line is that it's a movie that you will either love very much or a movie that you will hate.
The Eyes of My Mother is a directorial debut set in black & white and after seeing it I'm excited to see what else the director does.
I do understand if some feel like this isn't really a horror movie.
Given that a foreboding soundtrack adds to that a little bit more, this leading to obvious nods to other black-and-white horror classics such as Nosfaratu, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the eerily creepy The Night Of The Living Dead, there's a certain original tone to this whole black-and-white material.Another filmmaker inspired by this technique is writer-director Nicolas Pesce who adds a lot of tension to his debut The Eyes Of My Mother.
An original feature that places its main character Francisca (Kika Magalhaes), a woman living a lonely country life in the middle of nowhere, he gives her a story she feels pain in fact this pain is shown from the first few moments of the film.
Crafted with restraint, told with startling composure, and all the more uplifted by Kika Magalhaes' downright deranged performance, The Eyes of My Mother is a disquieting, disturbing & demented psychological horror that paints one of the most unsettling portraits of loneliness & perversion but it isn't a film that's meant to appease all.The Eyes of My Mother tells the story of Francisca, a young girl living a quiet life with her family in a remote farm.
But when a stranger appears in her house & promptly kills her mother before being knocked out & chained by her father in the barn, the trauma of the tragedy unravels Francisca's deepest & darkest desires in unexpected ways.Written & directed by Nicolas Pesce in what's his directorial debut, the story follows a three-tier structure, each focusing on Francisca's personal growth and is narrated in a very patient manner as Pesce allows the silence & stillness to ratchet up the anxiety while delivering moments of pure horror that only get more unsettling as the story progresses.Employing a minimalist approach, Pesce takes the route of slow-burn storytelling which works out in the film's favour as even moments of nothingness end up adding something to its grisly tale and, in turn, make those violent, perturbing scenes stand out even more.
Further assisting its ominous tone is its black-n-white cinematography, methodical editing & muted score.Coming to the acting department, The Eyes of My Mother is Kika Magalhaes' show all the way as she carries the entire film on her own and delivers a bone-chilling performance.
It's a quiet showcase from the young actress, conveying more from her unblinking gaze & silent expressions than the choice of words, and provides an unnerving insight into her character's psyche.On an overall scale, The Eyes of My Mother is a gruesome example of body horror that's definitely not for the easily distressed and packs many moments that are powerful enough to linger on long after the credits have rolled.
But unless you LIKE being horrified in an especially nauseating way, I would recommend avoiding this one.Within the first 9 minutes of this movie, including the opening credits and a foreshadowing sequence, a young girl of perhaps 9 or 10 years old has a ringside seat at the brutal murder of her mother by a serial killer.
I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect the film was shot in black-and-white because the ordinarily bright colors of gore are very muted in black-and-white, and the director didn't want them distracting from the subtler but more powerful horror going on.
I really don't want to experience a horror picture that works so hard to GET AT YOU in this way.I can "appreciate" the skillfulness and artistry with which this movie was created.
The plot revolves around the life of a woman who witnessed the brutal murder of her mother as a child, and the subsequent events, combined with her near total isolation throughout her entire life, leave her with a desperate need to be loved by someone, anyone, in any way, without any regard for the potentially devastating effects her actions might have on those unlucky enough to cross her path...Shot entirely in black-and-white, this movie is a beauty to behold from start to finish.
Shot in eerie black and white, 'The Eyes Of My Mother' is an  atmospheric horror film with a great premise, but something is missing  to make it a priority watch.
Somehow off-screen (and there are many moments off-screen but with explicit message) the killer ends up beaten and chained in the barn.The years pass and the child becomes a woman without any social nor moral values due to her extreme isolation, incapable of distinguishing good from evil (and the father does not help either due to his apathetic personality or perhaps he became so after the trauma of losing his wife).When the father dies, the loneliness of Francisca becomes overwhelming, being that every attempt at human contact ends up tragically for those unfortunate ones who cross paths with her.My verdict:The movie is in black and white (which plays on its favor), does not contain too many gore, is extremely slow paced even for just 76 minutes of its duration, but the images and message are strong and disturbing enough to be clearly classified as horror.
The only negative aspect I have to point is the fact that the daughter speaks Portuguese better than the mother, which is odd, but since the mother as little screen time it does not affect the overall quality.If you're looking for gore this is not the movie; but if you seek a truly terrifying story, then I highly recommend it..
NON SPOILER :If you are a lover of horror and thriller movies and just love a movie that can mess your mind up like hell then this movie is for you, its not a very very exciting movie for the first half but it surely spices up through out the movie.SPOILERS BELOW....SPOILERS: first its about a girl who witness her mother being murdered and her father attacked the murderer soon after.
A definite recommendation to both horror fans and true movie lovers.***Final thoughts: Funny, this girl – the main star of The Eyes of My Mother, reminded me so much of Angela in Sleepaway Camp.
Young director, Nicholas Pesce wanted us to watch a movie with the eyes of the psychopath he has created.
The Eyes of My Mother is a chilling psychological horror film.
The film begins with the young main character, Francisca, tending to the cows on her rural and isolated farm home with her mother, am older portuguese woman who used to work as an eye surgeon.
The mother's retelling of the story of Francis of Assisi at the beginning sets up much of the symbolism for the film- Francis spent much time in his life in isolation, and ended up being fatally afflicted with Trachoma (and infectious disease of the eye).
As I was watching this, I was dreading the point where a part of the film dragged, or there was some misstep in the story, but every shot in this film, every line, feels like the director and writer was completely confident in it succeeding, and it does.
It's an extremely intentional black & white art-house horror film, with more attention to detail than gore throughout.The story centers around Francisca (played by Olivia Bond first and then Kika Magalhães who was particularly awesome), a young girl whose quiet, simple life is turned upside-down by the murder of her mother (Diana Agostini) and, shortly after, the passing of her father (Paul Nazak).** SPOILERS!
Here's The Lowedown on "The Eyes of my Mother" (R - 2016 - US)...The universe is unfolding as it should.Genre: Horror/DisturbingMy Score: 5.6Cast=3 Acting=8 Plot=7 Ending=4 Story=7 Scare=3 Jump=2 F/X=7 Gore=6 Disturb=9A young, lonely woman is consumed by her deepest and darkest desires after tragedy strikes her quiet country life.
"Loneliness can do strange things to the mind." This movie was twisted...disturbing...and boring!!
It's all filmed in black and white and that takes away from the visceral gore that should have been seen.