My Mother’s Eyes is a 2023 Japanese sci-fi horror thriller about a mother and daughter who share the same sight after an accident.
Written, produced and directed by Takeshi Kushida (Woman of the Photographs). The Pyramid Film production stars Takuma Izumi, Akane Ono, Mone Shitara and Shûsaku Uchida.
Plot:
Both Hitomi and her daughter Eri are cellists who are involved in a traffic accident, leaving Hitomi without sight and Eri paralysed. While Hitomi wears camera-equipped contact lenses and Eri wears VR goggles, the two share one vision…
Reviews:
” …though My Mother’s Eyes moves at a measured pace, it is engrossing from the outset. Kushida injects both horror and humour into his film, often at the same moment. Hitomi’s passion for music turns literally sexual when she “plays” an anonymous hook-up like her beloved cello. Later, music opens the door to madness and violence in a way that would make Dario Argento smile.” ★★★★ Electric Shadows
” …My Mother’s Eyes is a romantic tragedy blacker than coal. There’s beauty in that tragedy – the bond between parent and child in the case of all four characters has its heart-wrenching moments of desperation and love – but there’s plenty of pain and struggle in those paternal connections too, and ultimately that leads to a bloody climax that lands the biggest gut-punch of all.” ★★★★½ Horror DNA
“Kushida likes stories which allegorise psychological states – body dysmorphia in Woman of the Photographs, and a parent-child trap here – but also manages a DePalma-like psycho-thriller with baroque moments of beautiful bloodshed (the sharp edge of a cellist’s bow stands in for a straight razor) and calmly surreal images of beautiful, strange people melding together in unexpected ways.” The Kim Newman Web Site
“The actors play their parts perfectly. And the amount of invention and fantasy that plays into this .. VR is reality right? Well it does feel like it is .. and it may very well help people … but obviously it can be taken advantage of too. A really interesting end – putting the right note to it … if you allow the pun.” 9 out of 10, Kosmasp
“It feels very futuristic, without being set in the future, reflecting how technology changes are right around the corner. The movie is filled with unsettling images and with a series of events in the second half of the film that leaves you shocked. It is effective, shocking and most importantly original in everything we see.” ★★★★ Movie Reviews 101
” …heartbreaking monologues and tremendous performances capture the character’s inescapable turmoil. These heart-rending sequences unfortunately clash with the third-act horror elements that, despite providing an impressively nasty visual, feel unneeded. Regardless, this does not diminish Kushida’s touching tale showing a parent’s lengths taken for their child’s sake.” ★★★★ Moving Pictures Film Club
“Here, through surreal imagery, mannered performances and oddly disembodied first-person perspectives, Kushida conjures a picture of family relations as ties that bind, strings that cut, and choices that are profoundly curtailed or controlled. These characters are playing a strange tune together, modulated not only with melancholy and regret, but with the hope, perhaps delusional, that things will somehow be better next time around.” Projected Figures
“Kushida deftly examines the possible pitfalls of technology and the lack of privacy to which they can lead, blending thoughtfully rendered and finely crafted family drama with a near-futuristic flavor […] Beautifully shot, artfully directed and framed, and masterfully acted, My Mother’s Eyes is a haunting film boasting images and concepts that will linger long after viewing it.” ★★★★ The Scariest Things
Trailer:
Image credits: UHM
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