This partnership between Blumhouse and Amazon truly is something remarkable. The movies that are coming out of this partnership range from ridiculous bloodbaths, hilarious horror comedies, and downright nerve shaking emotionally driven based on true event stories. Madres falls into the latter category and the scariest part is the final minute of the film, which is in fact just news reels and facts.
The movie focuses on Anita played by Elpidia Carrillo and Beto played by Tenoch Huerta are expecting their first child. They’re Mexican-American and just moved to California, to a migrant farming community where things start to take a turn for the scary. People around them start dying, Anita is seeing things, and believes the immigrants are being targeted, tortured, and poisoned. What is speculation and fear, turns into something very real and terrifying, bringing the horror to the forefront and making the audience as uncomfortable as one can get. Madres doesn’t pack the horror with blood and guts, instead it chooses the psychological route and sinks into the audiences deepest thoughts and soul. Truly bringing the terror to the forefront and disturbing the audience to their core.
Madres tells a story of a family being mentally tricked, seeing things that can’t possibly be real, and having to navigate the chaos that is going on in their new neighbourhood. Everything in Madres is anxiety inducing angst, as the movie progresses the tension and fear throughout, with the performances from Elpidia Carrillo and Tenoch Huerta deliver the goods with their performances. The audience is absolutely captivated by their performances, but especially Elpidia Carrillo who steals the movie by just grabbing a death grip on your heart and squeezing it until you can’t breathe. Her performance is mystifying and captivating to the point that you cannot resist but to be absorbed into her performance and the film itself.
Madres is everything you could want in a psychological horror and then more. It will not loosen its vice grip, and when you think you’ve escaped it decides to hit you with horrific facts that will churn your stomach and make you feel physically ill. Madres packs an absolute punch and will haunt its audience for days to come.
