Our Mother's House

Our Mother's House (1967) is a British thriller you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Jack Clayton — the filmmaker behind The Innocents. When their mother dies, seven children make a decision: bury her in the garden and tell no one. They will run the house themselves.

For a while, it holds together. They cook, pray, go to school and maintain the fiction with neighbours and teachers. Then a man turns up claiming to be their long-absent father. Dirk Bogarde plays him with a warm, easy manner that never fully convinces — and from that point the film tightens steadily. Young Mark Lester is among the children, filmed a year before he played Oliver Twist.

Clayton builds unease from what is not said rather than what is, which makes Our Mother's House stay with you longer than films that try harder. Watch Our Mother's House (1967) online on iFILM.