A Mother's Embrace (2025)

"Seriously Decent Brazilian Horror"

After its world premiere at Sitges followed by its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in March, director Cristian Ponce's atmospheric horror film is getting a digital release from Blue Finch.

When she was a little girl, Ana Santos was nearly killed by her mother. Years later, while working in her job as a fire rescue officer, she suffers an acute episode of triggered psychological trauma that causes her to be suspended from active duty. Two months after it both she and her assessors feel she's ready to return. 

On her first day back, Rio is on the grip of terrible storms causing flood damage and she and her team are called to a house they have been told is in imminent danger of collapse. The place turns out to be a care home for the elderly, and none of the inhabitants have any intention of leaving. Exactly why they won't leave is due to something quite deliciously horrible it would be shame to spoil.

A MOTHER'S EMBRACE cultivates an admirable atmosphere of creeping strangeness for over half its runtime, during which one could argue that very little happens, but tiny incremental events and the fantastic setting of the huge old care home with cracks in its walls and water coming in everywhere combine to quickly become unnerving. Marjorie Estiano delivers an excellent central performance as Ana and, like her character, you'll be wondering, and dreading, where it's all leading. One of the horror highlights of the year. Here's the trailer:

Cristian Ponce's A MOTHER'S EMBRACE is out on digital from Blue Finch on Monday 10th November 2025