Review of Mommy (2015) by Tor M — 10 Jun 2015

One of the most jaw-dropping movies in recent years, this blackly comical drama is the most audacious work yet from Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan. As challenging as it is rewarding, Mommy finds writer-director Xavier Dolan taking another impressive step forward. Dolan is a director who thinks hard about the possibilities of cinema and explores them with verve and ingenuity, but it is in his latest film that everything has come together. There are ups and downs and soapish highs and lows, but what stops this from ever becoming a telenovela is the riveting wonder of the performances and the sheer brio of the filmmaking. Mommy is first and foremost a mother-and-son story, but it's also a surprisingly delicate exploration of lonely lives, and the temporary islands of companionship that make them bearable. It's uncanny how much Dolan's style and overall solipsism have evolved in five years' time, resulting in a funny, heartbreaking and, above all, original work - right down to its unusual 1:1 aspect ratio - that feels derivative of no one, not even himself. Anne Dorval, Antoine Olivier Pilon and Suzanne Clément give scary-good performances.This is easily Dolan's best film, and it's exciting to think how many times we might have to revise that statement over the years to come. Mommy is going to linger. The love, the laughter, the anger and the sorrow--it sticks. This film earned a place in the top three of my favourite films of all time.

VERDICT: "Instant Classic" - [Positively Acclaimed Reaction] Usually I give this rating to a movie that I believe is absolutely outstanding and has little to no flaws in it. Audiences, who haven't seen this film, must see it right now! (Films that are rated 4.5 or 5 stars).