The Mother review – Overhyped snooze fest

Netflix’s newest addition to the action genre, The Mother, was written by Misha Green and Andrea Berloff and directed by Niki Caro (whose previous work includes Disney’s live-action adaptation of Mulan). Jennifer Lopez stars as a nameless badass forced to come out of hiding to protect the daughter she once abandoned from not one but two bad guys. 

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The Mother is streaming on Netflix in the UAE. If you don’t have one, you can create an account to watch this movie and other shows on Netflix.

The Mother review

What is Netflix’s new movie The Mother 2023 about?

When we first meet Lopez’s character, she’s in a room with the FBI and about to turn in her two former lovers and partners in crime, Adrian Lovell (played by Joseph Fiennes) and Héctor Álvarez (Gael García Bernal). One agent, William (Omari Hardwick), is sympathetic to the protagonist but all the others are quite rude. When the safe house is unexpectedly attacked, William and the pregnant protagonist only survive thanks to her quick thinking and ability to make a bomb using only household items, including a candle. 

After giving birth, The Mother makes the hard decision to leave her child to be raised in anonymity so she’ll be safe from the two dangerous villains. After getting Agent William to promise he’ll send her yearly photos of her daughter and to let her know should the child ever be in danger, the postpartum woman moves to a remote cabin where she plans on hiding out for the rest of her life. Of course, 12 years later, she gets a message from William forcing her back into the real world – She needs to save her now 12-year-old daughter, Zoe (Lucy Paez). And she has to confront the past she tries to leave behind more than a decade ago. 

A surprisingly boring movie

Considering this movie’s violence, explosions, and fight scenes, it’s still surprisingly dull. The plot doesn’t make sense, and any attempts at explaining the story make it seem more muddled. We never find out how the two villains discovered where the daughter was hiding. Was there a mole in the witness protection program?

After the girl is kidnapped for the first time, Agent William takes the protagonist on a rescue mission to Cuba. How was he able to do that without getting the slightest bit of push-back from his superiors? In the film’s universe, do FBI agents routinely go on missions with civilians who also happen to be former criminals? 

One of the two villains is Zoe’s biological father. We never learn which one. But why are they trying to kill their daughter? Being evil isn’t a good enough reason; it’s just lazy writing. 

Mediocre performances 

Then there’s the acting. The Mother’s only saving grace is Joseph Fiennes, whose talents are wasted in this movie. He was born to play terrifying villains, and it’s a shame his screen time is so criminally limited. 

Everyone else’s performance, including Lopez’s, is below mediocre. Scenes meant to be emotional came out as dry. The bond between the protagonist and Zoe feels forced. 

While this film’s runtime is just under two hours, it feels longer. When she’s not doing badass things, Lopez’s character is boring. And while the fights are well-choreographed and the cinematography is brilliant, when any of the characters spend too much time talking to each other, the whole thing turns into a snooze-fest. 

Overall, The Mother is a soulless endeavour that relies too much on star power and impressive special effects but lacks any substance or depth. Too many plot holes and pointless drivel fill the blanks between the fast-paced violence. 

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