Savanah Leaf’s feature film debut, Earth Mama, is an exquisitely rendered, quietly powerful portrait of a young mother trying to navigate a broken system and cruel world.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 3, 2024

An empathic look at the hurdles many people must overcome while operating with a system that doesn’t always have room for the nuances of humanity.

| Feb 13, 2024

Touching story of a single mother who is trying to reshape her life to regain custody of her small children.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 24, 2023

A vital but all-too-rare exploration of Black motherhood struggling on the margins.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 19, 2023

Having her lead character fully conscious of what's coming proves a crucial piece to the [filmmaker's] objective lens. It's not therefore about success or failure. It's merely the reality that most of these scenarios fall somewhere in between.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 15, 2023

It’s bleak at times, but there is a defiantly celebratory aspect to the film, which finds hope in the solidarity of Black women and dignity in Gia’s quiet stoicism.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 9, 2023

[Nomore] is a performer to watch in a film by a director who has, clearly, arrived.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 8, 2023

Earth Mama exists at a strange juncture of politically charged statement cinema and borderline new-ageiness, but the quiet audacity of Leaf’s approach makes it something eloquent and singular.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 7, 2023

The first insanely good entry into what we can hope will be a long and winding career behind the camera.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 7, 2023

A piercingly emotional drama, acted with natural flair.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2023

It’s a damned fine piece of drama but it also empathetically captures the way that being poor means having options so narrow that one thing going wrong can make everything else go wrong.

| Sep 27, 2023

A searingly emotional blend of social and magical realism from a one-to-watch director.

| Aug 18, 2023

... a minimalist procession of despair with an overall mediocre payoff. There’s simply not enough material for a feature here.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 17, 2023

Leaf is not afraid to make Gia unlikeable, as the film explores her human, but unproductive behavior in the face of stressful, dehumanizing situations.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Aug 15, 2023

Earth Mama is a social realist film but its lush visuals thwart the genre’s severity and surliness, smoothing the rough edges into a languid calm... In lieu of hard answers, resolution, or condemnation, Leaf gives us hope.

| Aug 11, 2023

Savanah Leaf gives us a towering reminder of the women who gave their all for us, their determination and power, the difficulties of staying afloat when you feel like you’re drowning, and how we can’t truly know what other people are struggling with.

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 4, 2023

There's nothing new to digest here, but its an intimate drama that packs an emotional charge.

| Original Score: B | Aug 3, 2023

Savanah Leaf’s feature debut about Black motherhood is quiet in its artistry, but its subtle movement and enchanting imagery uncover a world of heartache.

Full Review | Aug 2, 2023

The film is immediately captivating from the opening scene to the last haunting image. Savanah Leaf & Tia Nomore elevate a quiet, thoughtful journey.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 30, 2023

A beautifully realized drama that’s filled with soul.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 29, 2023