5 films to watch with your mother
In honor of Mother’s Day around the world, rediscover these maternal tours de force that are made for watching with your mom
Lion, 2016
This big-hearted film, based on a true story, is about the threads that bind us to our mothers. Through a mishap, five-year-old Saroo (newcomer Sunny Pawar) boards a decommissioned train near his village in India and is transported over 1,600km to Kolkata, where he has no means of getting back to his mother and two siblings. Eventually, after being put in an orphanage, he is adopted by an Australian couple, played by Nicole Kidman and David Wenham, and grows up in Tasmania, only to be haunted by memories as a grown man (played by Dev Patel) of the family he left behind. Kidman is extraordinary as Sue Brierley, whose decision to adopt Indian children is born out of a kind of vision. The film pays beautiful tribute to the depths of feeling and faith that mothers are capable of, with two depictions of motherly love that we would all want to come home to.
Juno, 2007
‘Light-hearted’ and ‘witty’ are two words that probably don’t automatically come to mind when faced with a movie based on an unplanned teenage pregnancy, but Juno isn’t your average adolescent. As if being a hormonal teen wasn’t enough to contend with, Juno – played by Ellen Page – finds herself caught up in confusing relationships as she seeks suitable adoptive parents for her baby. This indie comedy-drama, directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody, approaches a complex subject in an endearing way, creating a characterful insight into a young mom trying to do right by her unborn child.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, 2002
Written by and starring Nia Vardalos, this autobiographical film explores how love and parental pressure play out in a large, interfering Greek immigrant family. When Toula Portokalos (Vardalos), a 30-year-old, unmarried Greek woman falls for Anglo-Saxon type Ian (John Corbett), a man very much outside of her community, they aren’t just up against her mom and dad – they have to win over her entire extended family.
20th Century Women, 2016
Written and directed by Mike Mills, 20th Century Women is the story of a single mom, played masterfully by Annette Benning, who enlists the help of two young women – Elle Fanning and Greta Gerwig – to help co-parent her teenage son. It’s a semi-autobiographical coming of age story, set in ’70s Santa Barbara that celebrates an unconventional family unit and makes you reflect on that pivotal moment when you realize that your guardians are complicated human beings with needs and vulnerabilities all of their own.
Mudbound, 2017
Mary J. Blige’s Oscar-nominated portrayal of matriarch Florence Jackson helped make Mudbound one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2017, and the bond this formidable mother figure shares with her children really tugged at our heartstrings. The Netflix movie grapples with the horrors of racial segregation in the ’40s, and feels poignant to a modern audience enduring the tensions of today’s political climate. Director Dee Rees transformed Hillary Jordan’s novel with the help of Virgil Williams, incorporating her own family history – specifically the closeness she felt with her grandmother and the discovery of her post-war diary.
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