THN first caught Mother. May I? at the tail end of 2022 as part of Brooklyn Film Festival. Since then it has been a film that has frequently popped back into our minds, and soon it will invade even more minds as it arrives in the US this July, and in the UK this August. Written and directed by Laurence Vannicelli, Mother, May I? stars Kyle Gallner (Dinner in America) and Holland Roden (Teen Wolf) as a couple who find themselves entangled in a Freudian nightmare.
Emmett wants to clean and flip his recently deceased mother’s house: get in, get out, and avoid any trauma still lingering from when she abandoned him as a young child. Anya, his fiancé, sees this as an opportunity to finally force Emmett to deal with his trauma because she believes it is preventing him from being the partner she needs. She convinces him to take mushrooms to get him to let go, but something strange happens whilst they are tripping – she starts behaving like his mother. The next morning Emmett wakes up sober, but Anya still won’t drop the act… Anya loves playing games – is this her taking it too far? Or did Emmett’s mother’s spirit somehow possess her?
A wonderful mix of mystery, psychological thriller and relationship drama, Mother, May I? will have audiences on the edge of their seats with its intoxicating story and performances. Both Gallner and Roden are at the top of their game, with Roden having to juggle a duo of psyches within one body. Created and filmed during the pandemic, Roden fell instantly in love with the tricksy twisted film and signed on as producer long before she was ultimately cast as Anya. It marks her first steps into the role of producer, and given all the extra barriers created by filming during Covid-19 restrictions, has taken to producing like a duck to water.
On the eve of the SAG-AFTRA strike we spoke with Holland, and whilst the initial plan was to focus on both her work as a producer and an actor, we opted to shift the focus purely to her role as producer in solidarity with those who would be striking. We spoke about finding the perfect location, the closeness on set, why the story is so captivating, and whether a manoeuvre into directing might be on the cards for her.
Mother, May I? arrives in the US in Theaters and on Digital Platforms Friday 21st July. Mother May I? is also set to be released on Digital in the UK on 21st August.
