The destructive performances make this an intriguing look at the unfortunate way we treat older relatives and how maturing sexuality and empowerment can disturb us.

| Jul 25, 2023

Quite apart from her unclad courage in the sex scenes, 62-year-old Anne Reid conveys the dilemmas of her age and her hesitant path to liberation with extraordinary and moving subtlety.

| Jan 11, 2018

All of it is ingeniously drawn to a close with an unexpected ending that is so powerful in its simplicity.

| Apr 29, 2009

| Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 7, 2008

Isn't very exciting or involving.

| Mar 1, 2007

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 30, 2006

A bold, challenging performance by Anne Reid.

Full Review | Nov 28, 2004

...extremely well-played in individual scenes. But much of the film feels counterintuitive to the general thrust of the narrative.

| Original Score: B- | Oct 15, 2004

| Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 7, 2004

Complex characters, constrained emotions, an intelligent screenplay and a candid, audacious examination of the burgeoning sexuality of a woman in her 60s.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 17, 2004

This is a very solid little film that would be perfect to those of you who are beyond tired of this summer's attack of mindless entertainment.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 17, 2004

...hard to watch but it as honest as it is emotionally grueling.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Sep 7, 2004

This British drama gets increasingly lurid as it goes. And its handling of risque material is sensationalistic, even exploitative.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 27, 2004

Director Roger Michell shoots in stately poses that are artful to the point of distraction.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 27, 2004

A troubling film about the need to be wanted.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Aug 26, 2004

There is in The Mother a rich understanding of where old age takes you. Along with the myth that seniors don't have sex drives, the film dispels a larger one: that the years bring wisdom.

Full Review | Aug 7, 2004

It's a superb character study, with veteran actress Anne Reid delivering a heartbreaking and curiously liberating performance.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 6, 2004

Anne Reid gives a special performance.

| Original Score: B | Jul 26, 2004

It challenges you to figure out how you feel about the people on the screen -- emotionally, intellectually, morally.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 23, 2004

Gets down to dramatic business, transcending age and gender considerations to make May a poster woman for the philosophy that everyone's life path is their own business to determine.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 22, 2004