FINAL GIRLS BERLIN 2022 Review: Kate Dolan’s YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER
Director Kate Dolan delivers an exceptional debut that’s been amply well-received by critics since its Toronto premiere late last year. You Are Not My Mother, a film that deals heavily in the supernatural with subtle nods to witchcraft as a key plot tool, centers on Char (Hazel Doupe), a private school teenager beleaguered on multiple fronts: At school, she’s bullied by her peers, namely classmate Suzanne (Jordanne Jones) who also happens to be her neighbor. At home, Shar is forced to mitigate with the anxieties and depression of her mentally ill single mother, Angela (Carolyn Bracken), which ultimately pervades much of her shared environment with uncle Aaron (Paul Reid) and grandmother Rita (Ingrid Cragie). Further making things worse is when Shar leaves school one afternoon and suddenly finds the family car abandoned in public with Angela all but gone for hours, until finally re-emerging later at home. All seems normal-ish, […]