{Movie Review} Father of Flies: A Surreal & Moody Family Haunting

Though I’m not entirely sure what to make of Father of Flies, it is a movie that stuck with me. I’m still thinking about it days after watching it, even if some of the plot points befuddled me. Director Ben Charles Edwards’ film is moody and atmospheric, soaked in surreal imagery that haunts even after the credits roll. So many sequences are arresting, even if they don’t entirely make sense.

Boiled down, the film is about a broken family. More specifically, father Richard (Nicholas Tucci) ditched his wife, Linda (Sandra Andreis), due to her mental illness. What a jerk, right? Richard then invites his new partner, Coral (Camilla Rutherford), to live with the family. Oh, and she’s prego with his child. The kids, Donna (Page Ruth) and Michael (Davi Santos) are none too happy about this. Can you blame them? Donna rebels by drinking and partying, while Michael is terrorized by a supernatural entity that may or may not is associated with Coral.

There’s also a witch-like character played by Colleen Heidemann. On the one hand, she seems to be ever-present. On the other hand, her role in the story is unclear. I’m still unsure what function she actually served in the movie. Did she exacerbate the supernatural elements? Maybe. Is she a force who watches over the kids? Maybe. She’s too much of an undercooked character and feels like a missed opportunity. Her look is uncanny, especially her wild white hair and eye, but in the context of the family drama, she doesn’t really need to be in the film.

Coral’s Lullaby in Father of Lies

Coral is the most memorable character. She wears a rigid white facial mask for no apparent reason and dances around in a ghostly white robe to The Cure’s “Lullaby.” Talk about making great use of a song! In fact, she haunts every single scene that she’s in. There’s just something deeply unsettling about her. It works in terms of the dream-like atmosphere Edwards seems to be going for. Further, the choppy editing adds to the overall strangeness of the film.

However, while I understand the film contains a certain atmosphere, there are too many points in the narrative that are muddled, especially surrounding the kids and the supernatural elements. This is a film that left me scratching my head more than once. I also would have liked a few more scenes between Richard and the kids, though it’s also important that he’s an absentee father, always away on a business trip. This strains the family more. Tucci, who also starred in You’re Next, passed away in 2020, so it’s likely any additional scenes with him could not be filmed. This does add more weight to the movie. The sense of loss weighs heavily.

Overall, the low-budget Father of Flies has plenty of affecting images. Any scene with Coral is hair-raising. There’s something sinister about her character, whether she’s dancing or simply sitting in a chair. While the narrative feels a bit too disjointed, Edwards does succeed at depicting a profound sense of loss and establishing an eerie tone and mood. Father of Flies striking visuals and tense atmosphere are its high points and make it well worth the watch if strange, weird films are your thing. It is out on VOD today April 11th.