The Mother Review: Netflix Action Film In The Purest Of Term with JLo
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Joseph Fiennes, Gael Garcia Bernal, Lucy Paez
Director: Niki Caro
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
The review of The Mother, the film directed by Niki Caro, is available on Netflix, with Jennifer Lopez, Lucy Paez, and Joseph Fiennes. Jennifer Lopez as an actress and no longer just as a singer is no surprise. We have already seen JLo in many love films such as Marry Me or An explosive marriage, in which the comic side of the interpretation was the prevailing one, but she was able to amaze and convince even the most critical in The Girls of Wall Street. In The Mother, a new Netflix film available on the platform from May 12, Lopez for the first time takes on the role of a ruthless assassin willing to do anything to save her daughter. The role that has been entrusted to JLo not only requires a fair amount of emotional tension but requires a good ability to manage the action scenes.
The Mother is an action film in the purest way of the term, there is room for the development and deepening of the characters but the clash scenes occupy most of the footage. Will Jennifer Lopez have been able to hold the entire film on her shoulders? Find out in our review of The Mother. I remind you that The Mother is an action film for adults, not recommended for an audience of children or an audience made up of easily impressionable people. There are raw and violent scenes that could upset particularly sensitive viewers.
The Mother Review: The Story Plot
The Mother of the title, whose name is never revealed to us, is a former soldier with extraordinary skills in combat and above all as a sniper; we know that at some point in her life, she took a bad road and got dragged into some shady circles, between dangerous mercenaries and arms dealers. When she becomes pregnant, however, she decides to protect her child and become an informant under protection: the situation, however, precipitates when her ex-lover Adrian Lovell (Joseph Fiennes), with whom she was in business, decides to find and attack her, taking her one step away from death. Upset and miraculously surviving, the woman decides to give her little girl away, entrusting her to a family who can take care of her. However, the FBI agent who was with her during the attack makes her a promise:
Twelve years later the woman lives isolated in a snowy and wild corner of Alaska. His life runs monotonous and quiet until he learns that one of his former business partners (played by Gael Garcia Bernal) may be hunting for his little girl (who was named Zoe by her adoptive parents ) to use her as bait and find her. The woman, armed to the teeth, decides to go to the rescue of her daughter, who knows nothing about her and up to that moment has lived a completely normal existence. On her trail, however, there is also someone even more ruthless… JLo plays a former military woman who made bad choices for power, independence, and money. Her ambition drove her into two simultaneous love affairs with two dangerous and unscrupulous men. Love has never characterized these relationships, double-dealing and personal ambition have. But something suddenly changes.
The Mother Review and Analysis
The fact that the protagonist of the film does not have a real name but is always and only called The Mother should already be an example of how much the Netflix film focuses on the role of The Mother figure. The new fur produced and distributed by the platform was not released in a random period but has a specific strategic release date. The Mother debuts on Netflix on May 12, just 2 days before Mother’s Day, a clear indication that the streaming platform is betting strongly on the film and wants to give it as much prominence as possible. Jennifer Lopez’s film confronts the viewer, whether mother or not, with a complex question: how far can a mother go to protect her little girl? The maternal instinct is innate or can be overridden. The film answers both questions in its way and does so in a non-trivial way, merging pure action with family drama.
To save and keep her little one safe, The Mother gives up her custody and gives her up for adoption against her will. We immediately understand that the maternal instinct in The Mother protagonist of the story is triggered the first moment she realized she was pregnant. From that moment the protection of the creature has become a priority, everything has faded into the background. Guaranteeing a peaceful and happy life for the little girl, far from danger and escape, was a necessity for The Mother. This need prompted the protagonist to give up the child. The Mother has silenced her desire to raise her daughter, to see her grow up, and to protect her personally to see her happy, unaware, and carefree.
From the moment she gives up the child, The Mother suppresses the maternal instinct within herself. She hushes her feelings about her and pretends not to be a mother. She doesn’t qualify as such and perhaps she never has. She denies having a daughter in order not to try to track her down, to look for her, and get in touch with her. However, everything changes when she becomes the only one able to guarantee the girl’s safety. At that point, she chooses to act, to come out of the darkness and put herself at the center of attention. She never wanted to reprise the role she gave up 13 years ago but inevitably she is forced to do it. All in the name of Zoe’s safety.
The girl is awake and immediately notices an unusual resemblance between her and the woman who tries to bring her to safety from those who try to harm her. She knows she has been adopted and understands that the woman standing in front of her is her biological mother, although her Mother never admits it. JLo’s character never qualifies as a mother, she can’t forgive herself for abandoning her daughter. Her detachment and her rejection represent the character’s remorse and her sense of inadequacy. The woman protagonist of the film knows she cannot give Zoe the life that her adoptive family has allowed her to have all these years. She doesn’t even try to take her foster mother’s place. The Mother of the story is an honest character in the face of her feelings:
The relationship between mother and daughter is well-developed. The two don’t know each other but immediately feel curiosity and an instinct to always want to discover something more about each other. It is interesting that between mother and daughter, there is not the slightest regret, no recrimination, no hatred. Zoe has never accused her Mother of abandoning her, she is a really intelligent girl and immediately understood the causes of her abandonment. Knowing the biological mother better she can fully understand her decision and she has no regrets. The two characters are also very similar, more than it might initially seem. The Mother-daughter bond was built in a very natural way and without forcing, resulting in genuine and spontaneous.
There is no shortage of references to nature and metaphors. During the vision you will realize that the relationship between Zoe and her mother is often equated to that of the she-wolf and her puppies, it is no coincidence that we speak of instinct. It is precisely the maternal instinct, one of the most visceral and innate instincts of women, and to be the true protagonist of the story. You may be wondering: but the father? The film does not answer this question because it is not an interesting aspect of the story. Zoe is the daughter of JLo’s character and that’s all that matters to her. Knowing the two potential candidates for the role of father you will realize that neither of them deserves this qualification. Kudos to Jennifer Lopez for her performance in The Mother. The actress confirms the good interpretative skills shown in The Girls of Wall Street and gives us a very physical interpretation, thanks to the many action scenes, but also very touching in several points. It is certainly not the best film of the genre but manages to skillfully combine the action with the drama without being incomplete.
Netflix’s hefty budget is all evident in The Mother. It may not be like Extraction, the film produced by the Russo brothers and starring Chris Hemsworth, in which the action scenes dominated every other aspect of the story but were very excellent at the same time, but The Mother comes very close. The action of the film with Jennifer Lopez for tension, direction, and construction of the various scenes is very similar to Extraction. As in Chris Hemsworth’s film, there is no room for jokes, humor is not at home in The Mother. The situation is so extreme that there are few relaxing moments and they are all used to develop and deepen the characters. The action is heart-pounding until the last breath. The fate of the protagonist is uncertain until the last moment.
The various fight sequences are well-directed and well-handled. They are raw, concrete and do not spare the viewer from violence. Her mother was in the military and this past life of hers is also partly reflected in the way she deals with her enemies. She doesn’t discount anyone. Don’t expect sweet scenes, sweetness doesn’t belong in The Mother. If you love action films with a good dose of drama and a strong and independent female protagonist The Mother is the right film. However, I must point out that the story is not particularly innovative and the duration could be excessive.
The Mother Review: The Last Words
The Mother is an action film in the purest of terms, there is room for the development and deepening of the characters but the clash scenes occupy most of the footage. If you love action films with a good dose of drama and a strong and independent female protagonist The Mother is the right film. However, I must point out that the story is not particularly innovative and the duration is excessive. Jennifer Lopez is a mother who tries to protect her daughter at all costs in a Netflix action that is not at all original, despite her constant search for plot twists. A work of entertainment that constantly changes direction from a narrative point of view, confusing the viewer. A film with questionable interpretations, like basically its entire bill.
