From the Adams family, Mother of Flies is a gothic, fairytale horror described by critics as “impeccably crafted” and a “triumph.”
Mother of Flies won best film at Fantasia International Film Festival 2025. The acclaimed Shudder Original movie is coming to streaming on Friday, January 23, 2026. The film received a heap of praise from critics. Look no further than Variety, where the outlet called it: “A densely textured, quite gorgeous dive into folkloric witchiness that avoids nearly all anticipated clichés.”
The official synopsis for Mother of Flies reads:
Mickey (Zelda Adams) faces a deadly diagnosis, but she isn’t ready to die yet. Heading into the woods with her father (John Adams), she seeks dark magic at the hands of mysterious recluse, Solveig (Toby Poser) , who has an intimate relationship with death and roots that go deep in the land. For three days, Mickey endures Solveig’s extreme rituals of death magic. But every cure has its cost, and every curse is another’s gift. As buried secrets claw their way to the surface, the veil between the living and the dead begins to unravel, and Mickey finds herself facing dark truths that only the dead and the dying can know.
“Shudder feels like family – a beautiful creative home offering up the most diverse and eclectic platform to its voracious, horror loving audience. For our small family that loves making bloody movie magic together in the woods, it feels so good to be welcomed back with MOTHER OF FLIES to the cine-madness and dark, brilliant mayhem at Shudder. We are grateful to Samuel Zimmerman and the whole Shudder team for being such wonderful, generous, and always-fun partners in creativity,” said directors Toby Poser, John Adams, and Zelda Adams.
Official trailer:
Official poster:
Creative team:
Directors: John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser
Screenwriters: John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser
Cast: Zelda Adams, Toby Poser, John Adams, Lulu Adams, James Lindsay, Noble Wilson-Eiden, Jessica Beveridge
Producer: Toby Poser
Editor: John Adams
Directors of Photography: John Adams and Zelda Adams
Music by: H6LLB6ND6R
Language: English
Runtime: 92 minutes
Will you be watching Mother of Flies when it begins streaming on Shudder on January 23? Tell us in the comments down below!
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