QUICK HIT: The Voices of Our Mother [2026]

June 16, 2026

1–2 minutes

Mark O’Brien, Shudder, The Voices of Our Mother

Rating: NR | Runtime: 93 minutes
Release Date: June 19th, 2026 (USA)
Studio: Shudder
Director(s): Mark O’Brien
Writer(s): Mark O’Brien

You’re mine and no one else’s.

If innocent souls can be possessed by demonic forces, shouldn’t it also be true that demons can be possessed by God’s love? This is the supernaturally religious hypothetical Mark O’Brien seeks to answer with his latest film The Voices of Our Mother. It’s an extremely dark story with an unwavering mean streak that focuses on an estranged family still suffering from the pain of the abuses wrought upon them in youth. Abuses their mother simply allowed to happen.

I must give O’Brien credit for acknowledging the violence and tragedy this scenario demands and for sticking to his guns to see it through. Rather than center on how Johanna (Anna Ferguson) protects her daughter Harriet (Sheila McCarthy) from evil, its focal point is the collateral damage that results as her son-in-law and four grandchildren hurt instead. So, expect a divisive journey as it plays with the idea that bad people still deserve love.

While I enjoyed the performances and twists and turns revealed once William (O’Brien), Therese (Carolina Bartczak), Martin (Alex Ozerov-Meyer), and Annika (Georgina Reilly) reunite years after the horrors they endured and committed, the ending is initially tough to swallow. Thankfully, the sun doesn’t then rise to show all is well. No, its “happy ending” feels like a threat instead. Because this isn’t about unyielding love. It’s about the burden of truth.

Does that jibe with Father Roslovic’s (Shawn Doyle) assertion that only real love can save the day? Only if you shift your perspective to view Johanna and Annika as characters facing a test. Their ability to care for Harriet despite the cost is less about loving or forsaking their family then it is about loving God. The others’ malice is therefore placed on their own shoulders. Their “weakness” comes from forsaking God. It’s not perfect messaging, but I applaud the conviction.