Review of Mommy (2014) by Maria C — 26 Jul 2015

Last September, I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer at the Toronto International Film Festival, or better known as, TIFF. With this amazing opportunity also came amazing perks such as free movie vouchers for each shift we completed. I knew going into this festival that Mommy was my number one choice on my list of movies I needed to see before the festival ended. I have seen 3 of the 4 other films by director Xavier Dolan and he has since become my favourite director, so seeing this film was a must.

Before I get into the review, I have a bit of a story to tell. Now, you may think that as a volunteer you had a 100% chance of seeing the films you wanted. That is definitely not the case. You have to remember TIFF is one of the only film festivals that is also open to the public. Almost as soon as the tickets went on sale, Mommy was sold out. If you get to the box office as soon as it opens on the day the film is being screened there may be a chance that tickets are still on sale. Of course, for Mommy they were completely sold out. One of the perks of TIFF is that they have last minute entry on a RUSH line basis which means in the off chance there are any seats left they give them out to whoever is at the front of the RUSH line. The movie wasn't being shown until 12:00 in the afternoon and I got in line at 7:30 AM, because that is how badly I wanted to see this movie, and of course I was first in line. At around 9:00 AM a man came up to the front of the line and asked if by any chance anyone was here in line to see Mommy. I raised my hand and said that I was thinking that he was just checking to see if people had already started lining up for the film but, to my very lucky surprise he had an extra ticket and gave it to me free of charge. I was of course ecstatic!

Now let's get on to that review. Out of all the films I have seen by Xavier Dolan, his first film (I Killed My Mother) has always been my favourite...until now. This film was emotional and heartbreaking and just such a pleasure to watch. The acting was incredible by all three leads. Anne Dorval and Suzanne Clément have been in a few of Dolan's other films and were miraculous in each role so it didn't surprise me when they were just as amazing in Mommy. The real surprise came from Antoine-Olivier Pilon whom I have never seen in any film before. I wasn't sure what to expect, but he was perfect for this role.

The special thing about this movie is the way that it is shot, in a perfect square. I was lucky enough to attend a Q&A with Xavier Dolan after the film had finished playing and someone in the crowd asked him what the hardest part about making this film was and his answer was the way it was shot and trying to fit everyone into the frame. I can honestly say that I did not see any evidence of that struggle. Everything looked perfectly framed to me which just proves how much time and effort Dolan spends on making things perfect.

The soundtrack was what I was most worried about. I saw a trailer for the movie before TIFF started and it used very commercialized, popular songs that have been on the top charts on the radio recently. In previous films, Dolan was more artistic with his music choices so going into this film I was a little worried about what the music choices might be. Although they were common songs that majority of people have heard, the way they were used and what they meant made up for any doubt I had. The songs worked perfectly, and in some strange case, made me feel new emotions while listening to them which was also another topic that Dolan addressed during the Q&A.

I was also lucky enough to meet Xavier after the Q&A session and he was beyond kind and spoke to everyone that stayed behind to meet him. He answered more questions, signed autographs and took photos with all of us even after people told him he had to leave.

All in all, I would have been happy just to attend this one film and have all the experiences that I did, but TIFF is a 10 day long festival and I was able to see two other films in between volunteer shifts, so keep an eye out for those reviews coming soon.

I highly recommend checking out all of Xavier Dolan's films, but especially Mommy if you ever have the pleasure of getting your hands on this film in the near future!