Underplayed Gems

Mommy (2014)

Mommy poster
Directed by
Xavier Dolan
Genre
drama film
Country
Canada
Runtime
2h 19m
Rated
R
Rating
8.2 of 10 from 2,863 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A mother struggles to raise her sometimes-violent teenage son while trying to keep him out of an institution. The story shows their difficult relationship and the lengths she will go to protect him.

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What happens

Mommy is a 2014 Canadian melodrama film written, directed and edited by Xavier Dolan and starring Anne Dorval, Antoine Olivier Pilon, and Suzanne Clément. The story concerns a mother with a sometimes-violent teenage son, struggling to control his behaviour in a desperate attempt to avoid seeing him being institutionalized. The story focuses on mother–son relationships, a reoccurring theme in Dolan's work, and also marks his fourth collaboration with Dorval and his third with Clément. Inspiration for this particular story was drawn from Dolan's discovery of Pilon and the music of Ludovico Einaudi. It was shot in Quebec in an unconventional 1:1 aspect ratio. The film debuted at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize. It subsequently became a critical and financial success, grossing over $13 million worldwide. Mommy went on to win numerous other awards, among them nine Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture. Mommy was announced as Canada's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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