Momma: “Haunting” short film explained

Momma, a sobering 2018 short film, has suddenly attracted a fair bit of interest — here’s how to watch it, what happens, and details of the true story that inspired it.

There’s no shortage of new movies to stream, but short films go viral on social media all the time. Earlier this year, a spooky horror short called Special Day amassed millions of views on TikTok, as did Backstroke.

Unfortunately, there’s a near-constant problem: people will claim they’re on Netflix or another streaming service when they’re nowhere to be found, leading to a desperate web-wide search for somewhere to watch them.

Well, if you’ve been struggling to find Momma, don’t worry: we know where to watch it.

Where to watch Momma (2018)

Momma is available to stream for free via Vimeo.

MOMMA from Nacho Arenas on Vimeo.

A Facebook post claimed Momma could be watched on Prime Video. However, a thorough search of Amazon’s different streaming libraries across the world revealed it wasn’t available anywhere, nor is it on another other platform like Showtime or Paramount Plus, despite some websites listing it as such.

The Vimeo link also comes directly from the movie’s writer and director, Nacho Arenas.

What happens in Momma (2018)?

Nacho Arenas

Momma revolves around Darius (Maceo Smedley), a young boy who lives in a run-down trailer park; his home is surrounded by overflowing garbage, and a nearby street is full of abandoned rusty cars.

As he watches Looney Tunes, he hears a knock on the door. It’s Barbara (Andrene Ward-Hammond), a friend of Loretta, his mother. She wants to know if she’s home or visiting his “no good” father, as she’s not been at work for a few days, nor has she been answering the phone. Darius shakes his head, and Barbara leaves looking quite confused and suspicious.

Darius gets himself ready for school; he brushes his teeth, ties his own shoes, makes some lunch, and grabs some pocket money. At the end of school day, he watches other kids playing and walking with their parents. He doesn’t have time for any of that: he goes shopping instead, picking up cereal, fruit, milk, and an air freshener.

The woman at the till asks if he’s Loretta’s boy, and he nods. She briefly questions if he’s on his own, before saying, “Ah, I get it. You’re a big boy now.” He pays and walks home with all of the bags, before doing his homework. The next day, he’s playing with his toys when police arrive outside. They’re not here for him — they arrest a young mother in the house opposite him and take her baby away to Mercy’s Children’s Home. That night, she bangs on the door and begs for Loretta’s help, but Darius doesn’t say a word.

He makes it through the night. The next day, he uses a payphone to call his mother, but he only gets through to her voicemail. He goes home and takes what seems to be a cold shower (perhaps they ran out of gas), before going to the store again — but this time, he doesn’t have any money, so he steals hot dogs and more air fresheners.

He cooks the sausages and eats a sandwich as he looks over his school report card, before forging her signature; underneath, we see an “urgent” letter from Loretta’s cardiology clinic. As flies buzz all around him, we also see dishes mounting up and air fresheners dotted around the room.

Outside, he finds a stray dog searching for scraps, so he takes some food outside and plays with him for a while. The dog eventually leaves, so Darius goes back inside.

It’s bedtime, so he kneels before Jesus’ cross on the wall. “Forgive me Lord for I have sinned. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray to the Lord my soul to keep; if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. If I should live another day, I pray the Lord to guide my way… goodnight, momma,” he says, tearfully, before lying down on the bed.

The final shot reveals his mother’s corpse lying next to him, and it all becomes clear: she’s been dead the whole time. That’s why there’s been so many flies, and he needed air fresheners for the smell.

The true story behind Momma

News Channel 3

Momma is believed to be inspired by the story of Travis Butler, a young boy in Memphis, Tennessee who lived with his dead mother for over 30 days.

The film ends with the following message: “In 1999, a nine-year-old boy lived with his deceased mother for 30 days for fear of going into foster care. Authorities were finally alerted when neighbors complained of a strong smell emanating from the home. The boy was eventually taken in by his estranged grandmother.”

This lines up with Butler’s story, as told to News Channel 3. When he was nine, his mother Crystal Wells was diagnosed with cancer.

“I heard a loud thud, a loud boom, and I rushed and saw my mom. At first she was OK, and then she fell again. I guess she had a seizure. I wasn’t too sure at the time because I was afraid,” he recalled. His mother had died, and Butler’s mind went “blank… I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know who to call.”

For the next 33 days, he lived in the apartment as his mother lay dead on the floor, covered with just a coat. “At that time I figured, ‘Travis you can do it for yourself, Travis you can take care of yourself, you learned from your mom by watching and observation,'” he explained.

Just like in Momma, he went about his daily life as normal; going to school, buying groceries, and even playing with his neighbors. However, when a family friend from church paid him a visit, he “knew something was up.”

“I don’t know if he could see it on my face — you know, after 30 days, the body, the decomposed body started to smell. I tried my best to mask the smell with different scents or burn candles. He was in disbelief of what happened. He called and let people know, the authorities, and that’s how all this came about,” Butler said.

The next day, his grandmother from Mississippi came to pick him up, but the story became a media sensation, with celebrities all across America donating to his trust fund. He eventually ended up in the custody of Nathaniel and Dorothy Jeffries.

“I have people who love me in my corner and I respect them, and I’m loyal but at the same time, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of Crystal Wells,” he said.

Is Momma worth watching?

Momma is an incredibly powerful short film with a moving, mature central performance Maceo Smedley. Nacho Arenas’ direction is subtle; it slowly (and unbearably) peels back the truth of Darius’ situation, right up until that devastating final shot.

Those who’ve watched have echoed the praise, though many have warned that some may find it pretty upsetting. “So haunting and chilling and it makes me so sad to think this actually happened to a kid,” one Letterboxd user wrote.

“I wasn’t expecting this to be based on a true story so that ending was like a punch in the gut,” another wrote in their review.

In the meantime, you can find TV shows coming to streaming in April, and true crime documentaries you should add to your watch list.