A Mother’s Embrace review
Trauma horror walks into an old folk’s home with its own set of problems.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Streaming on SCREAMBOX September 16, 2025
A Mother’s Embrace
Directed by Cristian Ponce
Written by Gabriela Capello, Andre Pereira and Cristian Ponce
Starring Marjorie Estiano, Reynaldo Machado and Val Perré
A Mother’s Embrace Review
A Mother’s Embrace sneaks up on you in an interesting way. From its title to its opening scene to the fallout of an unseen incident that kicks the story off in earnest…the movie wants you to know that it is about one thing. A woman’s trauma over a childhood incident. Without getting into too many details (even though the haunting scene in question opens the film), it involves a fire during childhood and the decision to close off communication with one’s own mother. The opening of A Mother’s Embrace sets a very strong foundation for a movie about trauma. And to be fair, trauma is what the story is about…but there’s more going on in A Mother’s Embrace than a simple examination of it.
When we catch up with the little girl from the opening she’s a fully grown adult working as a firefighter. Ana (Marjorie Estiano) has returned from leave after suffering some kind of breakdown on an assignment. She’s eager to return to active duty having been given office work for some time. We learn that her mother, who she has been estranged from for twenty years, passed away the morning of Ana’s incident. Clearly there’s some unresolved issue…but she just wants to get back to doing her job.
Ana is put back into the field…and it probably couldn’t happen at a worse time. After helping the passenger of a car out of a dangerous situation…Ana and her team are called to another pressing matter. A nursing home is at risk of collapsing…and a storm is moving in. Ana’s team is led by Dias (Val Perré) who has reservations about the state of Ana’s mental health. Co-worker Roque (Reynaldo Machado) is the one who let the cause of Ana’s breakdown slip believing it would help her return to duty. The trio are driven around by Mourão (Rafael Canedo) and are all business when faced with a serious situation. They couldn’t predict what kind of situation there would be walking into on this nursing home call.
Things are strange right from the get-go when the group arrives at the old property. No one there called for help. At least…according to the few people who can talk. The home is filled with elderly people who can barely react to anything around them. Regardless of who called for help…the building is in rough shape, and the storm is threatening to take it down completely. Things are only going to get stranger from there.
Mourão and the car disappear without warning. Roque is sent to examine the perimeter and isn’t answering his walkie talkie. Dias falls through the floorboard and is pulled away by…something. Ana finds herself alone with a group of uncooperative residents…haunted by visions of her mother…and quickly discovering that the people who work at the nursing home are hiding something.
A Mother’s Embrace never stops being about Ana’s trauma…but it drops her into a completely unexpected situation instead of constantly reveling in it. It’s like watching two horror movies collide. I don’t know why I say it’s “like” that…A Mother’s Embrace is literally that. There are narrative reasons for it. Ones that begin to be discovered when Ana meets a child inside the nursing home who is afraid of…whatever is happening there. There’s a mystery to solve, a storm to weather and personal trauma to overcome. Ana has to deal with all of it without the help of her team on her first night back.
A Mother’s Embrace makes trauma feel fresh by recontextualizing it through the filter of a completely different horror story. Trauma horror often struggles to stand out from the pack…A Mother’s Embrace gives a lesson in how to make it happen. Ana is a strong character and Estiano gives an equally strong performance. It’s a great watch…trying to figure out what’s going on…wondering if Ana will be able to persevere even if she manages to figure it out. If you’ve grown tired of trauma-based horror movies…A Mother’s Embrace is here to present a reason for you to give it another try.
Obviously there are a lot of plot beats that I’m not going to include in this review…and they are worth discovering for yourself. There are hints of something ritualistic…and something Lovecraftian…and something spiritual. A Mother’s Embrace throws a lot of things at Ana…a lot of confusion and a lot of desperation…and asks her to overcome something she doesn’t understand while dealing with her own personal trauma. It makes for an engaging watch with a great lead character. The mysteries of the nursing home are worth checking into. You can do so on SCREAMBOX starting September 16th.
Scare Value
What at first appears to be a movie that will dive deep into personal trauma opens up into something unexpected when Ana enters the old folk’s home. From its title to its strong opening scene…A Mother’s Embrace wants you to believe it is about one thing. It is…but it’s also about something entirely different and unexpected. The change-up makes for a fun watch. You don’t know where the story is going because this isn’t the story you expected.
3.5/5
A Mother’s Embrace Link
Streaming on SCREAMBOX September 16
