Review of Mommy Is at the Hairdresser's (2008) by George R — 21 Mar 2009

Touching family drama illuminated in many ways but most meaningfully for me through the eyes of the youngest brother, confused at why Maman has left without saying goodbye. Papa's gay love affair is only there for narrative purposes, but doesn't Elise realize what's going on when she listens in on his phone conversation with his lover? She knowingly signals this to her mother, but later seems to be just as perplexed as her little brother as to why the family has fallen apart.

The father (to echo another reviewer, bizarrely metropolitan French, not Quebecois) can't handle the child-rearing, a stereotype perhaps, because the filmmaker doesn't make much of an effort for this character to grow.

The journey of the children is what is really interesting here, particularly Elise who finds a new mother and father in the deaf-mute Mr. Fly who "lives in a van down by the river" (sorry, couldn't resist).

Though we see nothing of the mother once she leaves, which is fine because the whole scene develops around the home, the mother's screen presence is amazing. This would make a great stage play.