Directed by Benoît Delhomme — Screenplay by Sarah Conradt.
Based on the novel Derrière la haine from author Barbara Abel (and a remake of the 2018 Olivier Masset-Depasse adaptation), Benoît Delhomme’s Mothers’ Instinct tells the story of two 1960s American housewives and mothers, Celine (played by Anne Hathaway) and Alice (played by Jessica Chastain). After Celine’s son tragically died and Alice was too late to stop it from happening, Celine and Alice become distant, and, following Celine’s stay away from the suburbs that she called her home, Alice notices a change in her neighbor, who starts to become close with Alice’s son. As strange things start to happen, Alice begins to suspect that her grieving neighbor has cruel intentions.
I had noticed that the film hadn’t been reviewed particularly warmly on Rotten Tomatoes and that it hadn’t made much, if any, impact upon release (partly because of it only getting a limited theatrical release stateside before being dumped on a streamer with an overwhelming content library). So, I had low expectations when I finally sat down to watch cinematographer Benoît Delhomme’s directorial debut, Mothers’ Instinct. Maybe it’s because of those low expectations, maybe it’s because I was in more of a ‘glass half full’ mood when I saw it, or perhaps it’s simply because it’s been treated a little bit too harshly. In any case, I thought Delhomme’s debut had several thoroughly convincing moments in this psychological thriller with Hitchcockian aims.
Now, admittedly, it did take a little while for the film to fully hook me in, as the (eventually tragic) opening was maybe a little bit too slow or too much of a conventional period grief drama to stand out, but, once the second act kicked in, and Delhomme’s film leaned into its psychological thriller aspirations, the film started to really work for me. It also helps that both Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway turn in compelling and thoroughly watchable performances throughout the film. In addition to the Oscar-winning actresses, I, as a fan of Joachim Trier’s oeuvre, got a kick out of seeing Anders Danielsen Lie in the film, even though it’s not exactly a meaty part.
I will say that the film feels uneven and slightly tonally confused and that neither the first act nor the concluding 10-20 minutes are as neatly arranged and executed as that middle act which gets a lot out of the central performers’ ability to sell the tension between them (and the accusatory titular mother’s instinct). Admittedly, the film does go a little bit overboard in the final act, when it might’ve been more interesting to focus more on the period’s treatment of its female characters than the over-the-top revelations that suddenly necessitate that we shift perspective from Chastain and over to Hathaway as decisions are made. Nonetheless, warts and all, I had a good time with this film. It is a perfectly fine debut that pulls off great work from its enormously talented leading ladies. It never quite reaches the heights of Hitchcock, but that would be an unreasonable standard to hold anyone to in their debut.
6.5 out of 10
– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 