Sean Tayler’s review published on Letterboxd:
Kind of genius how cold and alienating Christophe Honoré’s Ma mère adaptation feels. Right from the start, there’s a feeling of depression and listlessness between its central mother and son.
In the moments after her husband dies, their maid (Dominique Reymond, patron saint of the French New Extremity movement) has eyes wet with tears, but the mother turns to her son, and tells him to pretend to be sad.
Hélène Louvart shoots with wide, panoramic shots that show the characters as stark disturbances in this serene coastal locale. Louvart contrasts this with sweaty, bruised closeup shots that assault the characters in moments of perverted intimacy.
Burnt by the sun, and literally blemished by their depravity, the characters of Ma mère are mostly lifeless in their bored, worn out existence. It’s a daring, bold and explicit adaptation of a novel I would very much like to seek out now.
As the film progressed into a very confronting final act, it felt narratively choppy and a bit geographically confusing - however the final five minutes perfectly wrapped up the jarring and provocative energy the film had created.
The work of Catherine Breillat and François Ozon share a likeness with Honoré’s work here. It’s a far cry from his more recent, sensitive dramas like Sorry Angel and Winter Boy.
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_5a3ea98e-e301-4b9f-8f01-65801e68a664" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-5a3ea98e-e301-4b9f-8f01-65801e68a664'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-5a3ea98e-e301-4b9f-8f01-65801e68a664'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-5a3ea98e-e301-4b9f-8f01-65801e68a664'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_6e47dc2b-dfe4-422a-af26-71f6e4bfb8dc" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-6e47dc2b-dfe4-422a-af26-71f6e4bfb8dc'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-6e47dc2b-dfe4-422a-af26-71f6e4bfb8dc'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-6e47dc2b-dfe4-422a-af26-71f6e4bfb8dc'));
