The Final Girl And Her Mummy Issue

Loved by most, yet criticised by many. Horror’s favourite character trope, ‘the final girl,’ has roots much deeper than the surface, something beyond simply being the last woman standing. At a glance, the final girl always seems to get lucky, surviving against all odds even if it’s by the skin of her teeth.

Most commonly identified as your typical ‘girl next door,’ final girls have been prevalent throughout horror’s expansive history. Humble, sweet, and naïve, they are often placed in compromising and vulnerable situations, putting their lives at risk at the hand of blood-seeking antagonists. Tough parental dynamics, and ‘mummy issues,’ are responsible for not only moulding our beloved final girl’s character progression arc, but also playing a key part in the wider picture as a main determinant of the plot, dominating the narrative. It is their strained relationship with their mothering figure that provides them with determination, teaches them how to survive, and eventually is what keeps them alive. We watch issues with femininity, sexuality, individualism, and independence begin to arise within these characters. Without mothers, the ‘final girl’ as we know it would cease to exist, and so would the final girl in question herself.

Chances are, that your favourite slasher film features a final girl. Chances are also that you may be realising that, oh… She has mummy issues.

Ellen Ripley – Alien (1979)

Never has hearing the word ‘mother,’ sounded quite so uncomfortable than when watching Ridley Scott’s horror based sci-fi, Alien. MU-TH-UR 6000, or ‘Mother’ as the on-board crew members of the Nostromo ship like to call their resident artificial intelligence (AI) computer system, is drenched with a much more sinister reality. Mother is exactly that, a mother, yet with a twist. Mother does exactly what you’d expect a stereotypical, compliant motherly figure to do. Taking care of the ship and its crew, supporting their mission, and auto piloting the ship whilst the crew lay vulnerable in cryogenic hyper-sleep. They lay their lives at the hands (erm, wires?) of the AI Mother, blindly trusting the intentions of a non-human entity. Surprise, surprise… Things went wrong.

We turn our heads to Ripley, one of the most well-known, iconic, and totally badass horror final girls. Her experience with the horrors of motherhood, and ‘mummy issues,’ are far more complex than what you’d expect.

The franchise takes its first turn when an ‘alien’ attacks Nostromo crew member Kane (John Hurt) outside of the ship. The creature smothers his face, taking complete control over his body and its basic functions. In the modern-day of widely distributed digital media, as well as memes, we knew exactly what was coming. Those watching in the seventies most definitely did not. The alien, very peculiarly, reproduces with Kane in a gender-swapped moment, sealing his fate as a dead man as he then proceeds to give birth to an alien, straight through his chest.

As the Alien begins (and very quickly completes) its brutal massacre and consumption of almost every single crew member on the Nostromo, Ripley and her cat, Jones, are the only two left standing. It also helps that Ripley knows how to not draw attention to herself at the hands of the alien, with the rest of the crew apparently not having this same skill. Alien concludes as Ripley has no other choice than to destroy the ship due to the imminent threat of the bloodthirsty alien roaming on board, simultaneously destroying Mother.

The franchise continues to lean into and grasp tightly onto the horrifying concepts of motherhood and childbirth. In Aliens, the second instalment, we witness Ripley’s own personal responses to trauma and loss throughout the death of her daughter. Her motherhood is then resurrected by her approach to Newt, a survivor from another colony. We see Ripley’s personal experiences with motherhood, as opposed to in Alien, where interpretations are purely metaphorical. In Alien, motherhood and childbirth is parasitic, an unwanted encroachment upon the human body.

Sidney Prescott – Scream (1996)

Six films and nearly three decades later, Sidney Prescott still can’t catch a break! Despite not being a ‘sole survivor,’ Sidney is considered the final girl by many, setting the tone for one of the most successful horror franchises of our time, and cementing her place as an iconic woman in horror.

Scream (1996) begins nearly a year after the original Woodsboro murders, with Sidney’s (Neve Campbell) mother, Maureen Prescott, being the first of the lives taken during Ghostface’s killing spree. Her murder is the beginning of a franchise wide domino effect of trauma-induced mummy issues. Fighting to survive, all whilst having to deal with someone else’s mummy issues? Yeah, no thank you. I think I’ll give that a miss.

As the first anniversary of her mother’s death approaches, Sidney is struggling in more ways than not. Holding close relationships and friendships is near enough impossible, alongside experiencing intimacy issues with her boyfriend, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). After a series of mocking and threatening phone calls, serial killer Ghostface begins mercilessly picking off Sidney’s friends one by one, acting out of revenge for Maureen’s actions in the form of brutal and sadistic murders. Sidney begins to grow suspicious of the killer’s identity, pointing the finger at Billy, only to shrug it off when seeing Ghostface in the same room as him upstairs at a party, unknowing of Billy and Stu’s double bluff.

The masked killer, Ghostface himself, is revealed to be none other than Sidney’s boyfriend, Billy Loomis helpfully aided by Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), one of Sidney’s closest friends. Billy comes clean about the murder of Sidney’s mother, motivated by the fact that she was having an affair with not only the previously framed Cotton Weary, but Billy’s father as well. In his mind, Maureen had single-handedly destroyed their family structure with her infidelity, giving him the extra push to act on her mistakes. Whilst she is not entirely responsible, as we cannot ignore Billy and Stu’s twisted psychopathy, Maureen’s infidelity is undoubtedly the root cause of the killer’s motivations. Ghostface’s taunting towards Sidney is a reflection of the killings a year prior, in which she was already experiencing severe levels of post traumatic stress, irreparable trust issues, and inevitably, paranoia due to the death of her mother, without becoming the near victim of a revenge-fuelled killing spree that she seemingly inherited.

Honourable mention: Pearl – Pearl (2022)

Everyone’s favourite protagonist-turned-antagonist, and modern horror’s most debated about ‘final girl,’ isn’t actually one at all. Isolation, repression, and a heavy does of mummy issues make up Mia Goth’s commendable representation of Pearl, and her unfiltered, unhinged psychopathy. However, despite her complete and utter lack of empathy, we become almost protective of our sick and twisted little wannabe starlet. It is said that the only person that you will live your entire life with is yourself, and to that we all say in unison, ‘poor Pearl!’ Nature or nurture, her disturbing behaviour and sociopathic tendencies are with her until her dying day (in this case, until her head is obliterated by a reversing van).

She believes that she deserves more than her Texan homestead lifestyle, begging “Lord, make me the biggest star the world has ever known,” and the well quoted “I’m a star!” yearning for nothing more than to perform, front and centre as the apple in everyone’s eye.. With her husband Howard (Alistair Sewell) away from home serving in the First World War, Pearl’s only social interactions are between her heavily paralyzed father (Matthew Sunderland), her conservative religious mother (Tandi Wright), and the animals that she tends to on their family farm… It begs the question; how did she end up quite so messed up?

Pearl’s overbearing, religiously conservative, German mother is both the root of her downfall, and her primary protector. She does everything in her might to avoid enabling Pearl’s outlandish behaviour, knowing exactly who she is (and what she does) behind closed doors. Such as general disturbing behaviour and clear mental illness, including the torture of animals. It is a product of this isolated upbringing that Pearl becomes extremely sexually repressed, eventually developing to extreme levels, becoming the motivation behind her ruthless murders in X (2022).

It is clear that Ruth’s hatred for her daughter stems from the pressures of her role as carer for Pearl’s father, as well as the stereotypical ‘cold’ European upbringing. She wants Pearl to behave accordingly and to her standards , serving her father just as she does. Ruth hates to feel like his mother, and it is clear amongst the clear abuse towards Pearl that she lacks maternal instinct. She repeatedly reflecting these feelings on to her daughter in fits of rage and explosive confrontation. Pearl cannot have pride, passion, or God-forbid dreams. She must practically behave as a servant to the family, the perfect obedient daughter. I’m not going to let slip exactly what causes Ruth’s demise and timely death. However, if you play with fire, you’re going to get burned. With Pearl as your match, uh oh…

We don’t feel the same way about Pearl as we perhaps do with other female horror icons, final girls, or women that kill. With a special nod towards Scream (1996’s) Sidney Prescott. The narrative presents Pearl as a talented young woman with a clear dream, who strives towards a life of performance and stardom. Unfortunately, she is met with the reality that she was never actually normal to begin with, whatsoever. Her character moves away from the stereotypical final girl traits; the curious, vulnerable, and innocent ‘girl next door.’ The final girl is often the driving force of the narrative, and a victim of a shared past with the killer. The X franchise provides us with a completely new and unique narrative on the final girl, as Pearl both directly juxtaposes this, yet also kind-of fits the mould? Pearl acknowledges her flaws and cruel behaviours and feels somewhat likable to the watcher.

At the end of the day, final girl or not, she’s insane, and we love her! With mummy issues galore and blood on her hands, Pearl is the one you loathe to love.