When it comes to horror movies, sequels are all the rage in Hollywood. Halloween, Friday the 13th, Candyman… these are just a few of the movies where the monster within didn’t stay dead after the end of the closing credits.
So, what about You Are Not My Mother? This Irish horror movie isn’t a Hollywood production but it does end in a way that could suggest a sequel.
Will we get a part 2? Let’s take a closer look at the movie.
What is ‘You Are Not My Mother’ About?
You Are Not My Mother tells the story of a young teenager called Char who lives a lonely and oppressive existence with Angela, her mother, and Rita, her grandmother.
It is clear that all is not right within the family as Char’s mum appears to be very depressed and her gran loves nothing more than to spout doom and gloom whenever she gets the opportunity.
If this wasn’t bad enough for Char, her life is made worse by the constant bullying she experiences at the hands of her peers.
At this point, you could be fooled into thinking that isn’t a horror movie at all. On the surface, it probably sounds like the kind of urban drama that you have seen a thousand times before, with its council estate setting, vindictive teenagers, and dysfunctional family members.
However, things take a turn when Char’s mother goes missing. The girl goes looking for her mum but the woman is nowhere to be found. As to her actual location, we can’t be entirely sure, but she later turns up acting quite unlike the woman she was before. She is bright, cheerful, and prone to bursts of crazy dancing but it quickly becomes apparent that the woman Char believes to be her mother isn’t her mother at all. Hence the movie’s title.
What has happened to Char’s mother? (SPOILER ALERT)
It’s never quite clear what happened to Char’s mother but there is the suggestion that she has been replaced by a changeling. In folklore, a changeling is a fairy that replaces a human and takes on the person’s form.
At the beginning of the movie, it would appear that Char was taken over by a changeling herself but her grandmother lit a fire around her to cast out the changeling and to bring back Char.
Char begins to realise that something is amiss with her mother when she watches her swallow her arm whole! After going to a museum and learning about changelings, she begins to suspect that this is what her mother has become. Things take a turn for the worse when the woman undergoes another transformation and becomes something quite monstrous in nature. To bring back her mother’s human form, she realises she needs to coax the changeling towards a fire.
How does ‘You Are Not My Mother’ End?
The changeling chases Char through the streets of the estate. The poor girl then runs into the bullies who cruelly trap her in an unlit bonfire. As she ponders her fate, the changeling arrives, disposes of the bullies and comes after Char. The creature asks Char to “accept me,” to which Char replies “You are not my mother.” She then sets the changeling on fire and escapes the bonfire.
The next day, Angela returns, presumably free of the fairy that entrapped her.
Will there be a sequel to ‘You Are Not My Mother’?
In terms of the movie’s ending, there is a possibility of a sequel. Is Angela really free of the changeling? Or is she still the doppelganger who fooled everybody by its appearance? If this is the case, a sequel could see the changeling return to cause more havoc on Char and her family.
The sequel could also see Char get taken over by a changeling. She handed over the ball of herb to her mother that her grandmother had previously given her to ward off evil spirits. As such, her protection was taken by her mum and Char was left vulnerable to the changeling that tried to take her when she was a child.
These could both be plot points for a sequel but at this stage, there has been no news of a follow-up yet. Could it happen? Due to the movie’s low-budget and arthouse feel, it is unlikely. If Hollywood were to remake it, however, the chances of a follow-up to their bigger budget movie would be improved as studio execs love nothing more than to make money from sequels, as we suggested at the beginning of this article.
Read More: You Are Not My Mother Movie Review