mother movie review reddit

Film Review: ‘mother!’

Darren Aronofsky's head-trip horror movie, starring Jennifer Lawrence as a woman who slips down a rabbit hole of paranoia, is dazzling on the surface, but what lies beneath? Maybe nothing.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

• ‘Armand’ Review: An Accusation at a Primary School Results in a Drama So Convoluted It’s Claustrophobic 6 hours ago
• ‘The Shrouds’ Review: David Cronenberg Makes a Movie About Grief — and Body Horror, and Digital Gravestones — That in Its Somber Way Verges on Self-Parody 1 day ago
• ‘The Apprentice’ Review: Sebastian Stan Plays Donald Trump in a Docudrama That Nails Everything About Him but His Mystery 2 days ago

If the only thing we wanted, or expected, a horror film to do was to get a rise out of you — to make your eyes widen and your jaw drop, to leave you in breathless chortling spasms of WTF disbelief — then Darren Aronofsky ’s “ mother! ” would have to be reckoned some sort of masterpiece. As it is, the movie, which stars Jennifer Lawrence as a woman who slips down a rabbit hole of paranoid c ould-this-be-happening? reality (she flushes a beating heart down the toilet; blood in the shape of a vagina melts through the floorboards; and oh, the wackjobs who keep showing up!), is far from a masterpiece. It’s more like a dazzlingly skillful machine of virtual reality designed to get nothing but a rise out of you. It’s a baroque nightmare that’s about nothing but itself.

Yet for an increasingly large swath of the moviegoing audience, that may be enough. “mother!” is often entertaining in a knowingly over-the-top, look-ma-no-hands! way. To ask for a film like this one to be more than it is — to ask for it to connect to experience in a meaningful way — may, at this point, seem quaint and old-fashioned and irrelevant. Considering the number of cruddy recycled horror movies made by hacks that score at the box office, the film is almost destined to be a success, maybe even a “sensation,” because Aronofsky is no hack — he’s a dark wizard of the cinematic arts. Yet his two greatest films, “Requiem for a Dream” (2000) and “The Wrestler” (2008), are both steeped in the human dimension, whereas “mother!” is a piece of ersatz humanity. Its dread has no resonance; it’s a hermetically sealed creep-out that turns into a fake-trippy experience. By all means, go to “mother!” and enjoy its roller-coaster-of-weird exhibitionism. But be afraid, very afraid, only if you’re hoping to see a movie that’s as honestly disquieting as it is showy.

In the remote green countryside, Lawrence plays the young second wife of a middle-aged celebrity author of feel-good poetry, played by Javier Bardem . (The characters are identified in the credits only as “mother” and “him.”) She’s renovating the couple’s exquisitely tasteful and spacious rustic Victorian mansion. The place sits in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but grass and trees and wind, like a wooden octagonal country castle: no road, no driveway, no cell-phone service. It’s a house with great bones, as they say, but the place was burned in a fire, which destroyed everything Bardem had, including his first wife. In the ashes, he found a burnished crystal, which gave him the faith to go on (it’s mounted in his study), and Lawrence wants to feel the faith too. She isn’t just fixing up a house; she’s restoring their lives.

Popular on Variety

That, however, is going to be a challenge, since Bardem, who has been a blocked writer ever since the fire, skulks around with knitted brows and a bitter scowl, treating Lawrence less as someone he loves than as the ball-and-chain he’s already sick of. The oddest thing about “mother!” is that it pretends to be a “psychological drama,” but the Tensions Simmering Below The Surface are all on the surface. Aronofsky, who wrote as well as directed the film, seems to be drawing characters and situations out of a ham-handed tradition of overly blatant B-movie horror. But can intentional obviousness be an artful style? There’s no subtext to “mother!” — just the film’s hyper-synthetic, flattened-out pop reality.

Early on, there’s a mysterious knock on the door. It’s a skeevy and deranged-looking Ed Harris, who has somehow found his way to the house, late at night, and acts oddly aggressive and familiar (to Bardem: “Your wife? I thought it was your daughter!”). The even stranger thing is that within minutes, he and Bardem are sitting around like old drinking buddies, as if they were in the middle of a conspiracy. When Bardem invites him to stay over, Lawrence quite understandably says, “He’s a stranger. We’re not going to let him sleep in our house.” That Bardem treats a stranger like family and his wife like crap doesn’t really make sense, but the film asks us to accept that we’re in the “Twilight Zone” version of a “Green Acres” universe, where everything Lawrence thinks, says, and does is wrong, and she’s going to suffer for it, all because…well, there is no because. All because that’s the movie’s sick-joke rules.

“mother!” is a nightmare played as a hallucination played as a theater-of-the-absurd video game that seems to descend, level by level, to more and more extreme depths of depraved intensity. You could say that Aronofsky is drawing on “The Shining” (the isolated setting and Bardem’s stony resentment) and also on “Rosemary’s Baby,” the greatest of all paranoid horror films. If so, however, he heads right for that film’s in-your-face, party-with-the-devil final scene (“Hail Satan!”), which director Roman Polanski took an entire two-hour movie to work up to. That movie was a bad-dream vision of pregnancy in which Rosemary paid the price for her trust and naïveté. But what, exactly, is the sin Lawrence is paying for?

The way “mother!” portrays it, she’s an addict of countrified good taste who’s too obsessed with her Martha Stewart home-restoration project. But seriously, this is a crime? The role, as written, is so thin that Lawrence, long hair parted down the middle, has to infuse it with her personality just to create a semblance of a character. She makes this victim-heroine a warm, eager, reasonable sweetheart who is full of feeling (and wants to have a baby herself), but watches her life turn into a funhouse of torment.

She does take a mysterious golden elixir, which may have head-altering properties. (But then she stops taking it, and the madness escalates anyway.) The fact that she imbibes any substance at all may link the film, in Aronofsky’s mind, to the Ellen Burstyn section of “Requiem for a Dream,” in which the director imagined addiction to amphetamines as a hallucination from hell. But that outrageous and memorable episode expressed something deep and true: that this is what drugs could do to your brain.

In “mother!,” the filmmaker basically just keeps coming up with bigger and better ways to punish his heroine. Harris’s wife comes over, and she’s a noodgy drunk played, with blaring ferocity, by Michelle Pfeiffer. A little later, we meet the couple’s adult sons (played by Brian and Domhnall Gleeson), who are at loggerheads, and everything that’s happened so far begins to look like child’s play. We’re now more or less rolling with it, taking refuge in Aronofsky’s puckish skill at staging the delirium, even as his relentless use of hand-held close-ups grows claustrophobic.

There’s an abstract audacity to “mother!” The film’s horror plays off everything from the grabby hordes of celebrity culture to the fear of Nazis and terrorists to — yes — what it means to be a mother (complete with the world’s most ironic exclamation point). All of that makes the film seem ambitious. But it also makes it a movie that’s about everything and nothing. You might say that it’s Aronofsky’s (confessional?) vision of what it’s like being married to a famous egocentric artist. But you could also say that “mother!” is so intent on putting an undeserving woman through the terrors of the damned that there’s a residue of misogyny to its design. Toss in a twist ending worthy of M. Night Shamyalan (a good or bad thing? Maybe both), and you’ve got a head-trip horror movie with something for everyone — except, perhaps, for those who want to emerge feeling more haunted than assaulted.

Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (competition), September 5, 2017. Running time: 120 MIN.

• Production: A Paramount Pictures release of a Paramount Pictures, Protazoa Pictures production. Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin, Ari Handel. Executive producers: Mark Heyman, Jeff G. Waxman.
• Crew: Director, screenplay: Darren Aronofsky. Camera (color, widescreen): Matthew Libatique. Editor: Andrew Weisblum.
• With: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, Brian Gleeson, Stephen McHattie, Kristen Wiig.

More From Our Brands

Muni long taps mariah carey for remix of viral hit ‘made for me’, salt bae has closed his nusr-et steakhouse in n.y.c., angel reese joins dc power soccer ownership group, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, the voice finale recap: [spoiler] is named the winner of season 25, verify it's you, please log in.

Mother! Review

Darren Aronofsky is known for making eclectic films that may be more metaphor than a straightforward story. His newest endeavor is mother! , a movie which may be the single most surreal thing ever made by a man known for the surreal. Mother! is unique, compelling, and remarkable. It's terrifying, bizarre, and amazing. There's about a 50% chance you're going to fucking hate it.

Mother! stars Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem as a couple (they're never given names, nobody in the film is) living in a secluded house which Lawrence's character has been single-handedly fixing up while her husband, a poet, tries (and mostly fails) to overcome his writer's block. Things begin to get strange almost immediately when Ed Harris knocks on their front door, apparently by mistake. But Bardem welcomes him into their home almost instantly and just as quickly invites him to stay the night. His wife, understandably, is shocked by this, as he never asked her, but she goes along amiably enough. The next day, Michelle Pfeiffer arrives, playing Harris' wife, and she too is welcomed into the house immediately. Lawrence's character continues to go along with it, though the new couple makes themselves a little too at home, a little too quickly, in her house.

It's difficult to say how much further to even go when it comes to the film's plot. These half uninvited guests instantly connect with the poet, while mostly ignoring his wife. There's a feeling of unease which permeates every scene. Eventually, that unease comes to a head, but that's only the first half of the movie.

Delving into spoiler territory is nearly impossible, as a large portion of mother! utterly defies description. As the movie goes on, logic, and even linear narrative, start to break down as the movie reaches a crescendo in its third act, which goes completely off the rails. There simply aren't enough synonyms for "batshit insane" to properly describe what happens here.

First, let it be said that, on a surface level, mother! certainly achieves much of what it is trying to accomplish. The movie wants to make you uncomfortable, and it does this in spades. Even before things actually get weird, you can't help but feel like there is just something off about everything you see. That feeling never lets up. There is no relief. That feeling in the pit of your stomach doesn't even go away after the movie ends.

Whatever mother! is able to successfully accomplish on screen is almost entirely due to Jennifer Lawrence and the movie's cinematographer, Matthew Libatique. The actress is in every scene, and nearly every shot, of mother! We follow her incredibly closely, as the camera spends most of its time either right in her face or over her shoulder. This means that we never learn anything more than she does about what is actually going on in the story, so our emotional path perfectly matches hers. From uncomfortable to confused to afraid to overwhelmed, we're right there with her.

That doesn't mean that everything in the movie works. The film's two halves feel less like a cohesive whole than they do two parts roughly sewn together. There are a handful of plot elements and moments introduced early in the film, before things stop making sense entirely, which are never even addressed later on, never mind explained.

Clearly, as with many Darren Aronofsky movies, mother! is trying to say a great deal more than what is actually on the screen. The primary conversation is about gender relationships, with the creative man who simply expects his wife to support him unconditionally while refusing to do the same thing for her. He's so focused on what he's doing that he seemingly doesn't even realize that he walks all over her, if he does, it's only because he doesn't see anything wrong with that, which is, of course, the problem.

There's also a lot being said about the relationship between an artist, their art, and the audience. Although, in this case the director seems less inclined to point a finger, than paint the whole thing with the same brush. Darren Aronofsky has little love for the way an audience can feel entitled to the hard work of an artist, never mind their feelings of entitlement to the artist themselves. The mass of characters we meet later in the film feel like what would happen if Twitter became sentient. At the same time, the artist here isn't exactly painted as a perfect specimen, either. He's just as obsessed with providing material for his audience to fawn over as they are to consume it, and that obsession is just as bad, if not worse. Ultimately, nobody is free of blame.

Mother! is going to be a divisive movie, to say the least. Some will love the artistic risks, while others will absolutely loathe the disjointed and gruesome final product. I can't really argue with either perspective. I didn't enjoy the film, but it seems clear you're not supposed to. At the same time, I can't say mother! hasn't intrigued me and been on my mind nearly constantly since I've seen it. Mother! is truly an unforgettable film, that seems to go without saying. Whether or not that's a good thing is an entirely separate question.

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.

‘That Was The Beginning Of Everything For Me’: Kate Hudson On Getting Her Big Break In Almost Famous And How Her Career Is Now Coming Full Circle

Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga Has Screened For Critics, And They’re Mixed On The First Chapter Of His Western Epic

90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After Finally Brought Back Angela Deem And Michael, And It Made Me Sadder Than I Expected

Most Popular

Letterboxd — Your life in film

Forgotten username or password ?

• Start a new list…
• Add all films to a list…
• Add all films to watchlist

Add to your films…

Press Tab to complete, Enter to create

A moderator has locked this field.

Add to lists

Where to watch

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Seeing is believing

A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.

Jennifer Lawrence Javier Bardem Ed Harris Michelle Pfeiffer Brian Gleeson Domhnall Gleeson Jovan Adepo Amanda Chiu Patricia Summersett Eric Davis Raphael Grosz-Harvey Emily Hampshire Abraham Aronofsky Luis Oliva Stephanie Ng Wan Chris Gartin Stephen McHattie Ambrosio De Luca Gregg Bello Arthur Holden Henry Kwok Alex Bisping Koumba Ball Robert Higden Elizabeth Neale Kristen Wiig Scott Humphrey Marcia Jean Kurtz Anton Koval Show All… Carolyn Fe Anana Rydvald Cristina Rosato Pierre Simpson Mylene Savoie Gitz Crazyboy Shaun O'Hagan Sabrina Campilii Stanley B. Herman Mizinga Mwinga Genti Bejko Andreas Apergis Julianne Jain Julien Irwin Dupuy Bronwen Mantel Amanda Warren Mason Franklin Laurence Leboeuf Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse Xiao Sun Melissa Toussaint Fred Nguyen Khan Danny MAlin Adam Bernett Bineyam Girma Oliver Koomsatira Mercedes Leggett Alain Chanoine Kimberly Laferriere Deena Aziz Izabela Dąbrowska Hamza Haq Vitali Makarov Daniela Sandiford Nathaly Thibault Chloë Bellande Nobuya Shimamoto

Director Director

Darren Aronofsky

Producers Producers

Jennifer Madeloff Shari Hanson Scott Franklin Dylan Golden Ari Handel

Writer Writer

Casting casting.

Lindsay Graham Ahanonu Mary Vernieu Riva Cahn Thompson

Editor Editor

Andrew Weisblum

Cinematography Cinematography

Matthew Libatique

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Joey Coughlin Sinan Saber Michael Lerman

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Mark Heyman Josh Stern Jeff G. Waxman

Lighting Lighting

Jean Courteau Frédéric Moreau

Camera Operators Camera Operators

Yoann Malnati Chris Moseley

Additional Photography Add. Photography

Robert Mattigetz Chris Moseley

Production Design Production Design

Philip Messina

Art Direction Art Direction

Isabelle Guay Lauren Rockman

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Larry Dias Michel R. Lambert Veronique Meunier Radia Slaimi Guy Pigeon

Special Effects Special Effects

Peter Chesney

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Katherine Soares Colleen Bachman Manda Cheung Ryan Cunningham

Title Design Title Design

Kyle Cooper

Stunts Stunts

Jason Cavalier Marc Désourdy Jason Gosbee Holden Wong Renae Moneymaker Jennifer Cytrynbaum

Composer Composer

Jóhann Jóhannsson

Sound Sound

Craig Henighan Simon Poudrette Skip Lievsay Noyan Cosarer Coll Anderson Paula Fairfield Jill Purdy

Costume Design Costume Design

Danny Glicker

Makeup Makeup

Gillian Chandler Catherine Lavoie Judy Chin Leo Yılmaz

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Félix Larivière Frédèric Duguay Colette Martel

Paramount Protozoa Pictures

Releases by Date

05 sep 2017, 07 sep 2017, 13 sep 2017, 14 sep 2017, 10 oct 2017, 12 oct 2017, 13 oct 2017, 25 oct 2017, 17 sep 2021, theatrical limited, 19 sep 2017, 15 sep 2017, 20 sep 2017, 21 sep 2017, 22 sep 2017, 28 sep 2017, 29 sep 2017, 05 oct 2017, 11 oct 2017, 19 oct 2017, 20 oct 2017, 27 oct 2017, 03 nov 2017, 09 nov 2017, 05 dec 2017, 10 dec 2017, 23 jan 2018, 20 sep 2021, 01 oct 2021, 19 dec 2017, 17 jan 2018, 22 jan 2018, 24 jan 2018, 25 apr 2018, releases by country.

• Theatrical 16
• Theatrical MA15+
• Theatrical KNT/ENA

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

• Theatrical limited 16 Sao Paulo
• Theatrical 18A
• Premiere Toronto International Film Festival
• Theatrical 14
• Theatrical 18
• Theatrical 15

El Salvador

• Theatrical K-16
• Premiere 16 Paris
• Digital 12 VOD
• Physical 12 DVD & Blu-Ray
• Digital 16 Netflix
• Digital 18 Prime Video
• Theatrical III
• Premiere A Mumbai Film Festival
• Physical 17+ Blu-ray
• Premiere Haifa Film Festival
• Premiere Venice Film Festival
• Theatrical VM14
• Physical DVD and Blu-ray
• Theatrical N-16
• Theatrical C

Netherlands

• Physical 16 DVD, Blu ray

New Zealand

Philippines.

• Theatrical R-16
• Premiere 16 American Film Festival
• Theatrical M/16

Russian Federation

• Premiere 18+
• Theatrical NC16

South Africa

South korea.

• Premiere Busan International Film Festival
• Theatrical R-18

Trinidad and Tobago

• Theatrical 18+
• Physical 18
• Premiere R New York City
• Theatrical R

United Arab Emirates

121 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by davidehrlich ★★★★ 17

mother! is the best movie ever made about that feeling when you just want to sit in your underwear & chill but ed harris won’t leave u alone.*

*oh shit no it's probably still the Truman show

Review by sree ★★★ 13

me: pls leave me alone darren aronofsky *stabbing me in the neck*: it's a metaphor!

Review by #1 gizmo fan ½ 345

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

I lost it when they threw her on the ground.

When I say I lost it, I'm not talking about the losing it where tears just come bursting out. Not the losing it where you tuck your head into your knees because you just can't handle standing the sight of anything anymore. I'm talking about the losing it where you feel like everything you've just experienced was nothing more than a bad dream. That nothing this  disgusting could ever be made by a human being, someone with empathy, and an understanding of fear and anxiety. But when they threw Jennifer Lawerence's character (Mother) on the ground of her home, calling her a "cunt" and "nasty whore", kicking, punching, literally murdering her,…

Review by Lucy ★★★ 17

kinda like a charlie kaufman movie... if he did a bunch of coke and speed read the bible

Review by doinkdedoink ★★½ 14

damn but how was she nailing those sweet ass hairstyles without a wifi connection or downloaded youtube tutorials

Review by iana ★ 28

darren aronofsky wouldn't know a subtle metaphor if it slapped him in the face

Review by andrea🌹 ★★ 7

darren is right having PEOPLE in YOUR HOUSE is the SCARIEST thing

Review by maria ★★★★½ 13

this is the most extreme "save the planet" campaign i have ever seen

Review by Robin ★★½ 17

He wrote one poem

Review by bella ½ 115

It’s necessary to preface this with the fact that I am (or, was) a huge Aronofsky fan. He’s ingenious, and sophisticated and he has this distinct style to his films. Plus, his symbolism and metaphors have always struck a perfectly balanced note in the past. Having loved Black Swan and The Fountain, I’ve been super stoked for mother!. It all seemed right: the concept, the cast, the posters. Everything. The spectacle leading up to its various premieres added to my excitement.

Aronofsky didn’t underwhelm my expectations; in fact he exceeded them in epic proportions – in the worst ways possible. To understand my frustrations, one has to have a sense of the plot. mother! is the story of a giving,…

Review by pilot ★★ 7

imagine reading this script and thinking, "i want to date the man who wrote this"

Review by russman ★★★★ 1

No one is allowed in my house ever again

Similar Films

Mentioned by

Select your preferred poster

Upgrade to remove ads.

Letterboxd is an independent service created by a small team, and we rely mostly on the support of our members to maintain our site and apps. Please consider upgrading to a Pro account —for less than a couple bucks a month, you’ll get cool additional features like all-time and annual stats pages ( example ), the ability to select (and filter by) your favorite streaming services, and no ads!

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

Mother — film review.

Maternal instinct exerts fearsome force in "Mother," when a woman finds that no one but herself can clear her son of murder. Bong Joon-ho's top opus zooms in on one character with smothering intensity to examine the primal quality of motherhood. At the same time, it is a superb murder mystery, with twists coming thick and fast yet always at the right moments.

By Maggie Lee

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

Bottom Line: A tremendous human portrait and taut murder suspense.

More Cannes reviews

CANNES — Maternal instinct exerts fearsome force in “Mother,” when a woman finds that no one but herself can clear her son of murder. Bong Joon-ho’s top opus zooms in on one character with smothering intensity to examine the primal quality of motherhood. At the same time, it is a superb murder mystery, with twists coming thick and fast yet always at the right moments.

Hye-ja (Kim Hye-ja) runs a herbal apothecary, and performs unlicensed acupuncture to make ends meet. She is constantly on the look out for her son Do-joon (Won Bin), who easily gets in trouble because of his mentally challenged condition. When high school girl Ah-jung is found dead and dangling halfway from a rooftop, incriminating evidence points to Do-joon as the killer.

Neither the district police whom Hye-ja routinely grovels to, nor the lawyer whom Hye-ja must pay through the nose for, show any sympathy or patience to Do-joon’s case. Frustrated, Hye-ja decides to find the killer herself. Her biggest suspect is Do-joon’s hoodlum buddy Jin-tae. However, she soon learns that there is no one she can trust in her close-knit village.

This is expressed with a stylized film language that he forges with more confidence than ever before. Looming close-ups of Hye-ja stretched across the screen both mesmerize and unnerve. Other times, wide shots of endless fields or misty mountains frame her as a speck in the landscape — implying both her insignificance, and her affiliation with nature.

TV actress Kim Hye-ja, long-accustomed to playing overbearing Korean mothers, commands the screen, though she sometimes goes overboard with too many mannerisms in a larger-than-life performance. Won Bin exudes guileless charm as the dim-witted son, and is almost unrecognizable from his usual heartthrob image.

The film’s use of sound, from the ominous rustling of leaves to the menacing sounds of Hye-ja’s herb chopper, is more effective than any music score. The appearance of not more than two persons in most frames, and the stark palette of primary colors of doleful smoky blue and petulant rusty red create a sustained mood of claustrophobia and discomfort.

Festival de Cannes — Un Certain Regard

Related Stories

'an affair to remember' actress neva patterson dies at 90, thr newsletters.

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

‘being maria’ review: ‘last tango in paris’ star maria schneider gets a behind-the-scenes biopic that starts strong but fizzles out, ‘armand’ review: ingmar bergman’s grandson directs renate reinsve as a mother defending her son in ambitious school-set drama, adam wingard not returning for ‘godzilla x kong’ sequel (exclusive), ‘parthenope’ review: paolo sorrentino’s taste for baroque virtuosity delivers a lavish banquet that’s too rich to digest, richard foronjy, convicted criminal turned character actor, dies at 86, awards season calendar: key dates for oscars, emmys, tonys and other major events.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Link to Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Link to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Babes Link to Babes

New TV Tonight

• Evil: Season 4
• Trying: Season 4
• Tires: Season 1
• Fairly OddParents: A New Wish: Season 1
• Stax: Soulsville, U.S.A.: Season 1
• Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza: Season 1
• Jurassic World: Chaos Theory: Season 1
• Mulligan: Season 2
• The 1% Club: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• Outer Range: Season 2
• Bodkin: Season 1
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 2
• Bridgerton: Season 3
• Fallout: Season 1
• Dark Matter: Season 1
• The Sympathizer: Season 1
• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• The 8 Show: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Bridgerton: Season 3 Link to Bridgerton: Season 3
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Mad Max Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

Mad Max In Order: How to Watch the Movies Chronologically

Asian-American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Weekend Box Office Results: John Krasinski’s IF Rises to the Top

Hugh Jackman Knew “Deep in His Gut” That He Wanted to Play Wolverine Again

• Trending on RT
• Furiosa First Reviews
• Most Anticipated 2025 Movies
• Cannes Film Festival Preview
• TV Premiere Dates

Where to Watch

Rent Mother on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

As fleshy as it is funny, Bong Joon-Ho's Mother straddles family drama, horror and comedy with a deft grasp of tone and plenty of eerie visuals.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Bong Joon Ho

Yoon Do-joon

Yoon Je-moon

Jeon Mi-sun

More Like This

Related movie news.

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, mother/android.

Now streaming on:

A performer of rare emotional forte, Chloë Grace Moretz has a way of infusing her performances with a tangible sense of aplomb, entwined with something profoundly and untouchably vulnerable. It’s perhaps that expressive agility of hers that makes her a perfect match for genre film, whether she plays the blood-soaked Carrie or the nimble Hit-Girl. But considering her gifts and the length of her rich filmography as a young actress, one wonders why she isn’t a much bigger movie star.

Perhaps there is something to be said about the quality of the projects she attaches herself to. Because for every “ Suspiria ” or “ The Miseducation of Cameron Post ,” she seems to have a dreadful “ Shadow in the Cloud ” or a lackluster “Mother/Android” on her resume. The latter, by writer-director Mattson Tomlin , is an empty and dull post-apocalyptic sci-fi/thriller set sometime in the near future, with America overtaken by a deadly and violent uprising of artificial intelligence. And the best thing about this “ A Quiet Place ”-lite is Moretz’s fearless, full-fledged performance as the young and very pregnant Georgia who tries to save herself and her baby through a perilous journey alongside her boyfriend Sam ( Algee Smith ).

If only the movie could deserve her efforts. It starts promisingly enough at a Christmas party where Georgia and Sam are locked in a bathroom, staring at multiple positive pregnancy tests. In this version of the future we glimpse at, it seems no big deal that “ I, Robot ”-style machines—but human in appearance like “The Terminator”—are mingling amongst the flesh-and-blood guests as servers. One of them briefly malfunctions for a moment, incorrectly wishing a departing guest a happy Halloween. This little cue towards an impending apocalypse is deemed enough in the world of “Mother/Android,” which then promptly jumps ahead in time. Nine months to be exact, if Georgia’s ready-to-pop belly is any indication.

Based on the director’s statement included in the project’s production notes, it appears the story of “Mother/Android” comes from a deeply personal place for Tomlin, with his parents having to make a difficult but necessary decision about his future when he was a baby. You can sense that reflective touch throughout his film, one that frequently gets hindered by a severe lack of world-building. Often, we are asked to buy the new reality that Sam and Georgia find themselves in for face value and not question how Georgia continues to travel at such speed, given her condition. Quickly, we learn that the duo is headed to Boston, to a safe colony of Americans living in relative protection against the androids and their “No Man’s Land.” Naturally, there are rocky predicaments on the way, one of which introduces the couple to a ragtag settlement, and to Arthur ( Raúl Castillo ), a computer engineer who saves Georgia’s life with an armor of his own invention that’s supposed to make humans invisible to robot perception. With her boyfriend now a captive, Georgia places her trust in Arthur and wakes up in a comfortable hospital bed in Boston, under the close care of the safe colony.

Anyone who’s seen the likes of “ 28 Days Later ” will sniff a twist coming miles away—if something feels too good to be true, it probably is. But predictability isn’t even the biggest problem of “Mother/Android,” which generally suffers from an aura of aimlessness. In the film’s last act, you can’t help but feel shocked by your lack of interest in Georgia or what happens to her on the heels of a weepy finale that does very little towards plucking one’s heartstrings. There is some panache to the film’s visuals and a lot of heart in the actors’ collective dedication, but “Mother/Android” feels like a bland mash-up of genre staples to forgettable effect.

On Hulu now.

Tomris Laffly

Tomris Laffly is a freelance film writer and critic based in New York. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC), she regularly contributes to  RogerEbert.com , Variety and Time Out New York, with bylines in Filmmaker Magazine, Film Journal International, Vulture, The Playlist and The Wrap, among other outlets.

Now playing

Brian Tallerico

The Contestant

Monica castillo.

Christy Lemire

Jeanne du Barry

Sheila o'malley.

The Idea of You

Star Wars -- Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Roger ebert, film credits.

Mother/Android (2021)

Rated R for violence and language.

110 minutes

Chloë Grace Moretz as Georgia

Jared Reinfeldt as Connor

Algee Smith as Sam

Raúl Castillo as Arthur

Oscar Wahlberg as Derrick

• Mattson Tomlin

Cinematographer

• Patrick Scola
• Andrew Groves
• Michelle Birsky
• Kevin Olken Henthorn

Latest blog posts

Cannes 2024 Video #4: Jason Gorber on Canada's Films

Cannes 2024: Anora, Limonov, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, Lula

The Legacy of David Bordwell; or, The Memorial Service as Network Narrative

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 Wastes Its Potential

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy . We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

‘Madre’ Review: A Mother’s Unraveling Sparks an Elusive Connection in This Powerful Drama

Ryan lattanzio, deputy editor, film.

• Share on Facebook
• Share to Flipboard
• Share on LinkedIn
• Show more sharing options
• Submit to Reddit
• Post to Tumblr
• Print This Page
• Share on WhatsApp

Know you’re in for a wild emotional ride when the word “mother” is in the title of a movie. Darren Aronofsky wrought biblical hell upon us with “mother!,” Bong Joon Ho showed us that you could be perhaps too good a mom in “Mother,” and Pedro Almodóvar painted a ravishing ode to screen goddesses with “All About My Mother.” (Oh, and in the French film “Ma Mère,” Isabelle Huppert dabbles in incest.) Enter Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “Madre” into the canon of warped movies about motherhood. Marta Nieto turns in a great performance in this intimate yet epically shot drama about how a mother’s worst nightmare sparks a fleeting but unforgettable connection. What could’ve been an exploitative affair between a mother and the doppelgänger of her lost child is instead a certainly unsettling but strangely touching new movie.

Set against the clammy coastal enclave of a French beach town, “Madre” revolves (often quite literally, as much of the film appears to have been shot on a pivoting gimbal) around Elena (Nieto) as the mother of a missing child. Ten years prior to the central events of the movie — and presaged by a harrowing single-take sequence that contains one of the most excruciating phone calls in cinematic history — Elena’s son went missing while on a trip with his father. Nieto potently captures Elena’s panic as it becomes apparent that the boy, then six years old, is being kidnapped in real time.

Now a decade later, Elena and her husband are very much estranged. She lives on that very beach where her son went missing, works at divey local cafe, and even has a new relationship with the patiently doting Joseba (Alex Brendemühl). Still, she’s visibly haunted and pained by the events prior, but a splash of hope drops into her world when she espies a handsome teenage surfer by the sea. Later, they meet properly at her cafe, and he asks for her number.

No, the young man, Jean (Jules Porier), is not Elena’s son. But there’s certainly a resemblance, and he has a hypnotic hold on her, made obvious in tight closeups and that ever-revolving camera that constantly seems to encircle the pair as they get to know each other.

Though the nature of their relationship is surely beyond the realm of the platonic, it never quite dives into the sexual. Sorogoyen, who based “Madre” off his 2019 Academy Award-nominated short film of the same title, keeps Elena and Jean’s dynamic constantly tilting into flirtation but there’s a nurturing and, yes, mothering current to their relationship. Elena is projecting her lost son onto Jean as much as he is projecting his need for a mother figure onto her. At the rental property where Jean is summering with his Parisian family, things are not right. There are suggestions that Jean’s parents are abusive and, also, there’s the fact that his reedy mother looks almost exactly like Elena, but a decade or so older.

While “Madre” closely keeps its focus on Elena and Jean, there is a third act detour in which Elena meets up with her estranged ex Ramon (Raúl Prieto), but the encounter only results in anger and reopened wounds. “Madre” careens into melodrama in its final hour, and ends on a far less harrowing phone call than the first, but one that doesn’t necessarily carry the emotional significance it seems to promise.

But there are plenty of volcanoes of emotion to be experienced throughout the film’s spacious two-hour-plus running time, and within its fabulous vistas courtesy of cinematographer Alejandro de Pablo. “Madre” turns out to be the least twisted, and most empathetic, entry in the damaged mother movie canon in some time.

“Madre” is available via virtual cinemas and on VOD platforms now. Head to Strand Releasing’s webpage for more details.

Most Popular

You may also like.

Wife Found Out Me And My Mother Have Been Lying About Our Baby For Months r/Relationships

• Podcast Episode

Add a plot in your language

User reviews

• May 19, 2024 (United Kingdom)
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 20 minutes

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed

Screen Rant

Mother of the bride review: brooke shields is having a great time in easy, breezy netflix rom-com.

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Vin Diesel's $267 Million Franchise Return Is Coming At The Perfect Time

Happy gilmore 2 can finally pay 1 original character justice after 28-year-old deleted scene reveal, lord of the rings art recasts the movies with modern stars (including jason statham as a buff gollum).

• Mother of the Bride is a romantic comedy full of tropes, but it is also sweet and funny enough to work.
• A stellar cast, led by Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt, shines in this lighthearted summer flick.
• The film balances silliness and sincerity, offering an easy, breezy, enjoyable watch.

A young woman living abroad gets engaged and surprises her mother with the news that she is getting married in a month — a destination wedding in Phuket, Thailand. Unbeknownst to both, the bride's mother runs into her ex, and shenanigans ensue. Off the cuff, you would think this is the premise of Julia Roberts and George Clooney's Ticket to Paradise . But no, the always amusing, same movie/different font curse strikes again with Netflix's latest romantic comedy, Mother of The Bride , starring Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt.

Lana’s daughter Emma returns from abroad and drops a bombshell: she's getting married. In Thailand. In a month! Things only get worse when Lana learns that the man who captured Emma's heart is the son of the man who broke hers years ago.

• Brooke Shields & Benjamin Bratt shine in their roles
• The story can be fun and even sincere
• Chad Michael Murray is miscast
• There are too-silly moments and a concept the film barely explores

After starring in Netflix's A Castle For Christmas (a better movie than this one), opposite the always dashing Cary Elwes, Shields is back in the seasonally appropriate Mother of the Bride . Do you want to get into the beachy vibe, take a vacation to a beautiful exotic location and stare at some impressively good-looking people? Netflix has the thing for you. Want a lightweight story about a mother-daughter relationship sprinkled with the trope of the good old-fashioned college romance that never flamed out? Then Mother of the Bride is just what you need.

Mother Of The Bride Is All Fluff

But it's still a fun time.

Mother of the Bride is riddled with tropes and archetypes, but somehow screenwriter Robin Berheim — who's behind such hits as When Calls The Heart , all three The Princess Switch movies , and A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding — and director Mark Waters, who gave us Hall of Famers , Freaky Friday , Mean Girls and He's All That , manage to make something that is just sweet and funny enough that what usually wouldn't work does.

The key is in the film's pacing; there is just enough of the wedding subplot to anchor the mother-daughter arc. iCarly 's Miranda Cosgrove takes on that task with considerable ease, the unexpected reunion between the mother of the bride and the father of the groom is well managed (yes, their kids are the ones getting married and yes, you know how this ends already), and the filler featuring their friend group and a potential young fling for Shields' character are sprinkled throughout in just the right portions.

While the film isn't something I will eagerly watch repeatedly, it's a good time, bringing the right balance of silly and fun.

Mother of the Bride's success rests on the filmmakers' abilities to not oversell anything and trust that the collective charisma of the assembled cast will do what it needs to do — and it does, though a flimsy script and one major miscast can be distracting.

A Fantastic Cast Shines In A Quietly Amusing Summer Flick

Mother of the bride's strength lies in its actors.

Mother of the Bride's cast is quite impressive, though I highly doubt the likes of Brooke Shields, Benjamin Bratt, Chad Michael Murray, Rachael Harris, Wilson Cruz, and Michael McDonald would give up a chance to have a vacation and do some light acting work in Thailand. Cosgrove and Sean Teale play nothing-burger characters; they are just there to be the catalyst for the central romance but do enough to not feel like a nuisance when they are the focus of a scene.

Cruz and McDonald are the kind of actors you are just happy to see, although McDonald acts as though he walked through the set of Halloween Kills and into Mother of the Bride without breaking character, he is still fun to watch. Cruz is always a joy, and he shines as someone who is meant to exude good vibes only. Harris, as Shields' onscreen best friend, is comically and constantly nursing a drink in her hand, and she offers that I-am-the-mischievous-friend energy here that just feels right for a story about unexpected reunions.

Shields and Bratt are the dynamic duo I never knew I needed. Their chemistry is off the charts, but their most important contributions are their heartfelt performances.

The one glaring outlier in this ensemble is Murray. Although he was considered a heartthrob for some time, his presence in Mother of the Bride feels off. Also, the gag of Shields playing a woman who attracts a man half her age does not work when there is a mere 16-year age gap (58 and 42 is respectable). Additionally, Murray's purpose in the story is not needed, especially when it takes away from the moments involving the former college friends reuniting, which are actually the film's highlight.

Speaking of highlights, Shields and Bratt are the dynamic duo I never knew I needed. Their chemistry is off the charts, but their most important contributions are their heartfelt performances. There are much fewer shenanigans at play than in the aforementioned Ticket to Paradise , but there is a genuine sincerity in exploring former college lovers reconnecting as they near their golden years.

Their dynamic is sweet, humorous, and authentic. Honestly, I could see many people enjoying a light sitcom with Mother of the Bride's cast, specifically Shields, Bratt, Harris, Cruz and McDonald. They make a formidable group of friends at a later stage in their lives who still engage with their youthful spirit.

Mother of the Bride

Mother of the bride strikes the right balance.

Mother of the Bride's story is silly, and it's made sillier by the fact that the couple to be wed inadvertently reunites their respective widowed parents with "the one that got away." The in-law/step-sibling situation here is hardly acknowledged, and while not an outright taboo, I couldn't help but laugh at it. While the film isn't something I will eagerly watch repeatedly, it's a good time, bringing the right balance of silly and fun. The idyllic location is beautifully shot, the story is light and breezy, the performances are equally so, with actors who are a joy to watch.

Mother of the Bride is now available to stream on Netflix.