MOTHERS’ INSTINCT

Directed by Benoit Delhomme, the film is a remake of Olivier Masset-Depasse’s 2018 French film and an adaptation of Barbara Abel’s novel. Set in the 1960s, the film stars Chastain and Hathaway as Alice and Celine, neighbors in an American suburb who become best friends over the years, while their eight-year-old sons Theo and Max grow up together as siblings. Although Alice has some reservations about giving up everything to become a wife and mother, both women’s lives seem perfect. Nice houses, nice cars, everything seems too nice. And then you realize that something is going to go wrong. Because nothing is as perfect as it seems.

The bad thing happens immediately and Max falls off the balocone of his house and dies. Alice watches the whole thing from her backyard and runs to save him, but can’t reach him. This is the turning point of the movie and nothing will be normal between the two mothers anymore.

The grief over Max’s death brings with it anger, distrust and suspicion. Once doubt starts to creep in, there is no stopping it.

Delhomme manages to keep the film tense and tight, escalating the tension with unsettling close-ups. Add to this the uncanny characters and we are faced with a Hitchcockian thriller.

As for the finale, Mother’s Instinct looks very promising on paper and could have turned out to be a striking melodrama, but towards the end of the movie, it takes a noticeable downturn, leading to an uninspiring finale.The bad thing happens immediately and Max falls off the balocone of his house and dies. Alice watches the whole thing from her backyard and runs to save him, but can’t reach him. This is the turning point of the movie and nothing will be normal between the two mothers anymore.