Like most folks who attended the last screening of Natural Selection, I was catching the film mostly due to its winning both the audience and jury awards at SXSW. I hadn’t heard of it either, but then there were a ton of films on the venue, and I stuck to the ones I probably wouldn’t get screening invites to later (read “documentaries”).

So the hype for Natural Selection was ample, foremost among its champions was/is my Chicago colleague, the great Roger Ebert. And I can see why: It’s a tender, sweet story, the performances are terrific, and it’s all-around original, funny, and (forgive the use of this word) fresh.

Rachel Harris (whose eclectic credits range from The Hangover to Stuart Little 2 to SeaQuest DSV) plays the infertile, sexually frustrated, and very Christian housewife Linda White. Since she can’t produce a child and since she and her husband Abe Abe (John Diel) are such dedicated Christians, the two haven’t had sex in about a quarter of a century.

Abe finds a loophole in the only-sex-for-procreation by making weekly donations to the local sperm bank, something Linda is unaware of (as it would only compound her frustration at not being able to likewise relieve herself) until Abe suffers a stroke during one session and subsequently reveals to her that years ago one of his donations grew into a 23-year-old son Raymond (Matt O’Leary). He tasks Linda with tracking down Raymond so he can see the lad before he dies, and, like the dutiful wife she is, Linda accepts.

However, Raymond is the polar opposite of Linda—blasphemous, crooked, and, as the opening scene discloses, a fugitive. At first he resists her request, but after spying the opportunity to run some sort of grift on this gullible, overly patient woman, he accepts.

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Quite a week for horror trailers, and we’re only two days in. First, we got the first official look at the upcoming fourth film in Wes Craven’s Scream franchise, and now things are turning over to the maternal side of the genre, with Darren Lynn Bousman’s remake of 1980′s Mother’s Day.

The film has been in production and under a bit of wraps for quite some time, but now we’re finally getting a glimpse at actress Rebecca De Mornay’s stoic performance as the titular mother, and no–this isn’t the type you’ll want to introduce your new girlfriend to. Here’s the official synopsis.

After a bank robbery gone wrong, three brothers head for home, hoping their MOTHER (Rebecca De Mornay) can provide them with a getaway. The youngest brother, JOHNNY (Matt O’Leary), has been shot, and their back-stabbing former partner has gotten away with all the cash.

But when the brothers get home, they find that all their stuff is gone and Mother is nowhere to be found: She lost the house months ago in a foreclosure. The new owners, BETH and DANIEL SOHAPI (Jaime King and Frank Grillo), and their guests, gathered for an ill-timed birthday party, become the brothers’ unwitting hostages.

Not long after, Mother arrives, along with the boys’ sister LYDIA (Deborah Ann Woll), and it soon becomes clear that Mother will do absolutely anything to protect her children. In one terrifying evening she brilliantly takes control of the situation and masterminds her sons’ escape from the law.

With the man behind most of (the good) Saw films, you can expect this flick to fall on the side of the gory and tortuous. Definitely not one to take the kids to. Check out the trailer after the jump, and catch Mother’s Day in theaters on 11/11/11.

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