Mother's Day Movie Review
Mother's Day Movie Review
Hallmark won't have an appropriate card for this day.
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There are lots of movies about moms. I Remember Mama. Mommy Dearest. Baby Mama. But there's nothing quite like this. And don't you dare call Rebecca De Mornay's eponymous character mama, mom, or mommy — she is Mother, with a capital M. She's misery personified: mean, malevolent, and murderous. She accomplishes all her evil with her hands primly folded, never once raising her voice and without turning a hair.
De Mornay's Mother is a devilishly delightful villain whose charm, poise and intelligence is reminiscent of quiet, time-biding predator roles traditionally played by men (Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter, Henry Fonda in Once Upon A Time In The West, and Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs to name a few). She pulls all the strings in this macabre game of cats and mice, keeping cool while chaos unfolds and spills out all around her.
The sharp clawed cats are her violent sons Ike (Patrick Flueger) and Addley (Warren Cole). The hapless prey are Daniel and Beth Sohapi (Frank Grillo and Jaime King). Hell breaks loose in the beginning of the film shortly after the wayward Koffin brothers are nearly caught in the commission of a crime — they barely escape, the youngest of them shot by police and in need of refuge. They head home to Mother's house, only to find Mother was evicted and the Sohapis have moved in.
The new tenants are a surprise, but not much of a hindrance. Ike, Addley and injured Johnny (Matt O'Leary) move in and take over. The boys send out a distress call and the Koffins are reunited when Mother and their sister Lydia (Deborah Ann Woll) join them. Just in the nick of time, too — there's a storm brewing and the roads are all being closed. The phone lines are down, and the stores are closed. Law enforcement that might otherwise have been hunting the brothers are reassigned to tend to the impending natural disaster.
Held hostage along with Daniel and Beth are a half-dozen friends who were there for a small party. As the horrific evening unfolds alliances and marriages are tested, twisted and turned upside down.
Director Darren Lynn Bousman always works with large ensemble casts (the Saw films, and Repo! The Genetic Opera) and his acumen shows once again with Mother's Day. A wide variety of characters are portrayed by actors of various talent levels, but the performances are all even across the board. While this isn't the kind of movie where any one actor stands out like a sore thumb (that reminds me of a very painful hand-breaking scene in the film), there are a couple of interpersonal dynamics I especially liked: Beth and Ike are clearly adversarial, while "good guy" doctor/guest George (Shawn Ashmore) and "bad girl" Lydia have a grayer interaction throughout the film. De Mornay is excellent, and if I have any complaints it's that I wish there'd been more of her.
I do have a few complaints — mostly in regard to the usual horror-style traps victims and villains fall into (Why'd she go in there? How could he not have heard that? Why didn't he just keep running?) and a couple of credibility stretches — but it's no more illogical than its brethren.
Speaking of its brethren, Mother's Day is absolutely nothing like the 1980 Troma film of the same name. It is really more a home-invasion suspenser more than it is a straight-up horror film. It reminds me of The Panic Room, Funny Games, Ils, The Strangers, and the Last House on the Left remake. That said, there are some awfully brutal scenes of torture (no hot tea for me, thanks) so consider yourself warned.
Not sure if this is a movie you'd want to take your mother to (unless your last name is Barker) but it's definitely one to catch on the big screen!
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson