Mothers Who Hate Their Daughters
This Mother’s Day we’re honoring the moms who haunt your nightmares. In the horror genre specifically, mother-daughter relationships can be difficult—a tense, emotionally loaded space where love curdles into control, identity becomes a curse, and inheritance feels like a haunting. It’s not just about nurture gone wrong—it’s about the terror of becoming your mother, or worse, never escaping her at all.
Here we’ve compiled several movies with strained mother-daughter relationships that took this sacred bond to something much more sinister.
Pearl (2022), directed by Ti West
Pearl (Mia Goth) is chastised by her mother in Pearl (2022).
Set in Texas in 1918, Ti West’s Pearl kicks off with bright and vibrant technicolor scenes, making you believe the story is going to be one of happiness, hope, and wonder. Unlike The Wizard of Oz however, Pearl, like many in the X trilogy, is just as—if not more—dark as its predecessor and final installation. In the film, we meet Pearl (Mia Goth), a young woman working the family farm while also taking care of her paralyzed father under the duress of her strict German mother (Tandi Wright). As she awaits the return of her husband Howard from World War I, Pearl fantasizes about a life in the moving pictures—something far away from the farm and all the hardships she must endure there.
This is where the riff between Pearl and her mother Ruth really becomes exasperated. Distracted by a dream that her mother knows very well could never come true, she belittles Pearl for her ignorance and the carelessness of her ways as she is, inevitably, ruining everything Ruth and her husband have worked so hard to create. Already, her mother suffers from having to care for her disabled partner, a cruel punishment sent from God to cut their once happy marriage short. While I won’t spoil how their hatred for one another boils over, just know the scene is not one for the lighthearted.
Run Rabbit Run (2023), directed by Daina Reid
In this Australian psychological horror, single mother Sarah (Sarah Snook) is taking her daughter Mia (Lily LaTorre) to her childhood home. The reason? Mia has recently been acting strangely, claiming to be Sarah’s dead sister, Alice. Coincidentally, it is Mia’s seventh birthday—the same age Alice was when she died. The trip was suggested by Sarah’s friend, as a means to help Mia connect with the home and hopefully overcome this strange phenomenon. Instead, it makes things even worse. As Sarah tries to deal with the seemingly cruel joke Mia is playing on her, she not only begins to hate her daughter, but herself, as she must face the truth of her sister’s death.
As a child, Sarah told her parents that Alice had run away. In reality, in the heat of a sibling argument, Sarah had actually pushed her sister over the edge of a cliff. In a brutal, single act of rage, Sarah never admitted to what really happened and has been carrying the weight of that fateful day ever since. It is no wonder that Mia’s actions are hitting her so hard—it is not just the unfortunate circumstance, but the guilt ripping her apart for the first time in decades, stronger than ever before. See how this all plays out for the mother-daughter duo this holiday by streaming the film on Netflix.
Orphan (2009), directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Mother-daughter relationships aren’t reserved just for those biologically connected. Sometimes your daughter might be someone you choose to be in your life, either through a second marriage or an adoption. But what happens when the girl you met and thought so highly of turns out to be a terror you never could have imagined?
In this twisted tale that still bugs me nearly 20 years later, director Jaume Collet-Serra tells the story of Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), a charming, quiet, and artistic girl from Russia, awaiting a family to take her home. Immediately connecting with her for her innocent nature and detailed artwork, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and her husband realize she’s the daughter they’ve always dreamed of, but were never able to have.
Unbeknownst to them, Esther isn’t the sweet nine-year-old girl they were under the impression of. No, she’s a 30-something-year-old woman who is trying to take John as her partner and cut Kate out of the picture. Talk about striking a nerve. See how this love-turned-hate turns out if you’re in the mood for a truly disturbing family drama.
Carrie (Sissy Spacek) sits at her mother’s feet in Carrie (1976).
Carrie (1976), directed by Brian De Palma
Probably horror’s most unsettling mother-daughter relationship, Carrie (Sissy Spacek) and Margaret (Piper Laurie) really push the boundaries of what hate means. Throughout the entire film, Carrie is repeatedly abused and controlled by her mother, as if religion and excessive praying can stop her from becoming a woman. Making things even worse, when Margaret realizes that Carrie has telekinetic abilities, she punishes her for what she believes is witchcraft and committing sin by banishing her to a closet.
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When it comes to parenthood, I’m not sure Margaret ever shows her daughter even an ounce of compassion. It seems instead of ever developing a mother-daughter relationship, she is simply devoted to God and nothing—no one—can come between them. In turn, this makes Carrie withdrawn and fearful. But, as we all know, Carrie gets the ultimate revenge by the end of the film, making us all a little more cautious about how we treat one another.
Article by Destiny King
Destiny is a supporting member of the Horror Writers Association who’s been working in B2B publishing for nearly a decade. Her favorite horror subgenres are true crime, found footage, and psychological thrillers. Find her on Letterboxd.
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