The Mother
NETFLIXIt’s hard to even fathom the idea of a Jennifer Lopez-led action thriller in the year 2023 and not have the predisposed thought about it being horrible. Thankfully, The Mother is just that — a flat, uninspiring and vastly inferior story that is ever so generic and often horribly made. It’s clear that the core theme of a mother and daughter relationship is presumably key for Lopez, and thus is the emphasis of the feature itself — arguably being its strength. Alas, it doesn’t make up for something that should be and is defined as ‘generic’.
Everything here is ever so predictable and mundane with little direction, substance, style or even conventions elevated to a degree in which they feel momentarily intriguing or engaging. Starting with the aesthetic, cinematography and director, for some reason beyond the realms of common sense, decide to implement a blurred image effect that covers everything but the central character in each frame. Why this technique is implemented is beyond frustrating as it adds little to zero conscious or subconscious thematic mood. To put it frankly, it looks atrocious and blocks whatever frame and composition was intended; this technique is utilised multiple times and in pivotal moments of what is intended as emotional motives. The intention and outcome are two separate entities. The latter is incredibly narrow-minded and ultimately worsens the experience because it not only looks overly cheap but severely dampens the experience: made more furious is that it most definitely looks like a post-production effect, or, more appropriately, an afterthought.
Equally as nonsensical is the plot. As stated above, the narrative is simple and generic as they come in terms of convention, but the actual bloodline and beats are ever so convoluted and silly. Flashbacks are introduced to build further character and connect small pieces to ultimately give the antagonist and protagonist reasons to converge and find common ground that commences what the audience sees on screen. The issue is two-fold: firstly, it’s all just nonsensical rubbish to tie characters together to create something far too grandiose, and secondly, due to the absurdity in lack thereof character depth, nothing is remotely believable and for a story that wants to push itself out to a larger world yet make it so character driven and internal crafts something of a contradiction. That being said, what The Mother ultimately creates is a personal tale of someone trying to get their child back after being kidnapped to lure the actual Mother (Lopez) out of hiding. For what reason, who knows? Perhaps the feature touches on it, maybe it doesn't. In the long run of things, it doesn't matter anyway, because it never matters in the film. It is this type of attitude that ultimately sets the tone.
The biggest issue is not the dynamic between Mother and Daughter (which will be touched upon next) but the core dynamic of why they are being pursued and ultimately by whom. The film toys with two characters played by Gael García Bernal and Joseph Fiennes who are central to why The Mother goes on the run but also either one could be her daughter's Father. The issue is that both those elements of being a father or the reason to lure The Mother out do not make much to any sense in the film itself or have enough material to be dynamic or emotively engaging. Either due to the abysmal writing and material on offer and thus the genuinely boring and lifeless screen presence the two performers are able to muster up. It is all B-movie drama and crocodile tears that flounder upon any real emotional engagement, and thus the whole creation of The Mother itself is not worth the weight it builds. If the core dynamic of the antagonist is not up to scratch to craft a dynamic that is thrilling or engaging the resulting chase and ultimately the film is carrying a dead horse of inactive and lifeless weight.
So, at least the dynamic of mother and daughter is up to scratch, right? Sadly not. Equally as frustrating as the antagonists are the protagonists, with Lopez and Lucy Paez struggling to hit form. Now this is unfair to Paez, who at such a tender age is thrown into the deep end and left to fight for her character alone both on screen and on paper. She shows good depth and emotive core, but she isn't given that dynamic partnership to touch base or even be protected when the emotion comes flooding in. She is, however, given such sequences as she is the only actress who can't muster up an emotive performance. Where this all comes down to is the horrible performance from Lopez, who sleepwalks a comatose performance without character charm or screen presence. She showcases little to no depth and talent here, understanding so little of the assignment and task at hand, demonstrating that the central idea and entire film that is crafted around her as the star showcases that she has zero talent or gall to even attempt to hit the heights this feature arguably deserves.
Even after the mess and lifeless entity, The Mother tries to convince with its plot and character dynamics, after the mesmerising uncomfortable dynamic between mother and daughter it has the ego to play Kate Bush's Women’s Work as if it has achieved something or demonstrated itself to show power for its female characters. It is this false sense of ego and probably security that best defines The Mother; a feature that thinks it is doing so much more than it actually achieves and plays the basic best hit album from a mediocore and has-been band.
