Mommy’s Little Monster: A beautifully-shot horror short about survivors

Mommy’s Little Monster is a thought-provoking suspense film that puts the survivors of domestic abuse at the forefront of this gripping tale.

Mommy’s Little Monster is a horror short with an intensely personal backstory. The short follows an abused woman, Kim (Jenny Pellicer), and her son Philip (Tate Birchmore) on the run from her abusive husband and Philip’s father.

Kim’s anxiety manifests in the way she lives and breathes, as trauma so often can. She adorns it like both a coat of armor, builds resilience from it to protect her and her son, and also recedes into it like a familiar shell when need be.

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Philip doesn’t grasp the gravity of the situation and believes he and his mother are being stalked by an angry bear. He doesn’t fully comprehend why he and his mom have fled to his grandfather’s isolated cabin. All he has to go on is his mother’s heightened state of adrenaline.

No answers are given explicitly in the movie, it’s more about the emotional sense it invokes. It’s apparent why when you read the director’s statement. The film was created by Patrick Green and he shared his honest and personal story about the making of Mommy’s Little Monster. The film was a way for him to reconcile his love and fear of his own abusive father.

In his own words, he shares that the movie ” is my way of facing my father, whom I both loved and feared. I wanted to tell a story where the victims of domestic violence could help each other face their “monster” once and for all.”

Side note: Special shoutout to that gorgeous poster above I’m obsessed!

That sentiment is felt while watching the brief journey Philip and Kim takes over the course of the film’s eleven-minute run time. Darkness descends upon their cabin and both Philip and Kim must deal with what dwells in the darkness, together, or apart.

Patrick is an LA-based filmmaker, he has experience writing for various mediums and moved on to creating his own projects in the last couple of years. His 2019 documentary film, For Your Consideration, premiered at AmDocs in Palm Springs and is currently making the festival rounds.

Mommy’s Little Monster will premiere at the end of this month at the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival.

To see previous work by actor, Tate Birchmore, check out this trailer for his upcoming film, Between the Darkness (aka Come, Said the Night):

Do you enjoy watching horror short films? Do you plan on checking out Mommy’s Little Monster? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Mommy’s Little Monster will premiere at Horrible Imaginings on August 31st and screen at Sin City Horror Fest (Sept 13-15).