Review of Mommy (2015) by Zaganedf — 16 Nov 2020

From the very first shot this movie screams “I’m not like them other films.” The 1:1 aspect ratio and use of artsy lenses is evident of that. But I really liked the dream sequence. Editing was mostly mediocre though.

I don’t really like how all men are coded in an exclusively negative way. The lawyer just wants sex from Die, Kyla’s husband’s job is more important than what Kyla wants and she has just to follow him, Steve is just destroying everyone's lives.

It seems like in this film men are only holding back and negatively affecting women. Like that’s all they do. And Steve is portrayed just as a straight up menace. His depiction is very shallow, we don't see any of his inner world and I don’t think his character is based on realistic psychology of a human being.

But mom/son relationship dynamics do seem realistic. I noticed how everyone is telling the truth when they are drunk. Rather a simplistic take on alcohol from the director. Why can’t everyone stop being fake and face the truth when they’re sober? Ultimately that's what killed Steve when Die chose to believe in some fake ‘hope’.

Or maybe that's just how she justified her actions. Either way the outcome is the same. I think the director didn’t have a clear vision of what type of movie he was making. It looks very formal with a huge accent on aesthetics and a huge amount of beautiful cheesy scenes and shots that are very technical (like slow-mo, tracking shots).

But the narrative is realistic. It’s the opposite of the visual. Last note, hearing Dido and Lana Del Rey (Born To Die. I **** you not) made me cringe a bit. It was like a cherry on top of those cheesy cliché scenes.