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The Mother
2003 112 min United Kingdom R 16+
★7.0
Drama, Romance
Director: Roger Michell
Trailers
Description
A grandmother has a passionate affair with a man half her age, who is also sleeping with her daughter.
Budget:
$2.5M
US Gross:
$1.06M
Worldwide:
$1.06M
Starring
Anne Reid
Actor
Daniel Craig
Actor
Anna Wilson-Jones
Actor
Awards
European Film Awards 2003
— Best Screenplay
BAFTA 2004
— Best Actress
European Film Awards 2004
— Audience Award – Best Actress
European Film Awards 2003
— Best Actress
European Film Awards 2004
— Audience Award – Best Actor
Key opinion
The Mother is a provocative and psychologically raw exploration of late-life desire and fractured familial dynamics that challenges societal taboos. While the film is praised for its authentic performances and refusal to moralize, it remains a divisive experience due to its uncomfortable subject matter and uneven narrative execution.
| Acting | Anne Reid and Daniel Craig deliver nuanced, compelling performances that ground the film's challenging central relationship. | |
| Screenplay | Hanif Kureishi's screenplay bravely resists conventional moralizing, opting instead to examine the unsettling reality of aging and hidden human desires. | |
| Theme | The film succeeds in breaking stagnant stereotypes regarding the elderly, portraying May's journey as an authentic, albeit painful, pursuit of life. | |
| Screenplay | Opinions on the narrative structure are divided; some find the shift from nuanced character study to melodramatic confrontation jarring and unoriginal, while others appreciate the boldness of its unconventional trajectory. | |
| Emotion | The film's impact is polarizing; its focus on moral neutrality and cold familial alienation makes for an intentionally uncomfortable, at times exhausting, viewing experience. |