Our Mother’s House
Jack Clayton, 1967, 105 min

Introduced by Ranjit S. Ruprai and followed by discussion with film critic Phuong Le

“If we tell, we go to hell.”

Jack Clayton’s strange, gothic film takes place in a shadowy, old house in south London. A home in which secrets must be kept by 7 children about their dead mother as they try to continue their lives whilst avoiding the orphanage. What happens to a parental home when it suddenly becomes parentless? The children, including a pre-Oliver! Mark Lester, form a mother cult with a sacred shrine and disturbing seances. Into this bizarre situation returns the absent father, played by Dirk Bogarde, a charming and devious character. This rarely screened British film is a marvellous curio.

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Screening as part of The Parental Home double bill