Review of Mommy (2014) by Jesus C — 04 Sep 2017

Mommy is a 2014 French-Canadian Drama about a mother trying to homeschool her misbehaving teen son with ADHD.

From the beginning the film presents itself in a very claustrophobic aspect ratio, but this feature isn't used for pretentious reasons. It does have a purpose for storytelling and they use that advantage wisely, and it doesn't distract from the story in anyway. It actually adds more to the story.

The cast did such a superb job in this film. I was completely floored by the two leads, Anne Dorval and Antoine-Olivier Pilon. There is a certain scene in the last act that made me break into tears because I was convinced that these were actual real people, not just actors. That's how you know if someone deserved an Oscar.

Mommy is one of those rare foreign masterpieces that reminds how complex family matters can be.