1 Terms of Endearment
ToE is a great one to watch with your mum; she’ll insist that she is nowhere near as controlling and neurotic as Shirley MacClaine while we commiserate with her daughter, the adorable Debra Winger. Be ready for an emosh ending though, luckily the mother will be on hand to console us. MacClaine and Winger are us and our mothers. MacClaine torments Winger with endless calls just like our mothers do, though now, our mother’s can bombard us on multiple communication platforms simultaneously through email, text and some advanced mothers are even on the WhatsApp.
“Emma, your mother boycotted your wedding, she hates your husband and she only holds you in medium esteem.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY0GM9KHU8o
2 Serial Mom
Is your mum completely devoted to you? My mum once told me that if I were accused of a crime she would provide me with a false alibi; I thought that was devoted until I saw Kathleen Turner in Serial Mom. This savagely saccharine mum is truly committed to her kids’ happiness, so much so that she may have to be committed. Serial Mom is one of John Waters’ best flicks, watch out for a young Ricky Lake and cameos by Joan Rivers and Tracy Lords.
“Mom, are you a serial killer? Chip, the only cereal I know anything about is Rice Crispies.”
3 Stepmom
There’s something about people being mean to poor little Julia Roberts that really gets to us. Even when it’s kids. “Leave Julia alone, she’s doing her best”, we want to shout at the screen. Julia is competing with uber (and biological) mom, Susan Sarandon for the affections of her boyfriend’s kids. The mom wars inevitably escalate and just when we’re ready to throttle Sarandon she … well, just watch it. It’s heartwarming.
“You forgot to wash my shirt; I told you a hundred times that today is purple shirt day at school.”
4 Mommie Dearest
As terrifying as it is hilarious. To give you an idea, I think it is safe to assume that Heath Ledger based his Joker performance in Batman on Faye Dunaway’s portrayal of Joan Crawford in this movie.
“What are wire hangers doing in this closet when I told you no wire hangers…EVERRRR. Three hundred dollar dress on a wire hanger.”
5 Postcards from the Edge
Real-life Hollywood mothers have certainly proved fertile ground for analysis of the mother-daughter relationship. PftE is based on Carrie Fisher’ semi-autobiographical account of her life with Hollywood mum, Debbie Reynolds. Meryl plays the addled young Fischer while Shirley MacClaine is her starry mum.
“Ever since I was about seven I wanted to be you. Bart does you in his drag show.”
6 August: Osage County
Meryl is on a roll in this list, this time appearing as the dominating and arguably deranged mother of poor little Julia Roberts, being put upon once again. Based on the play by Tracy Letts, this family drama is the closest thing to a portrayal of our family gatherings I have ever seen.
“You’ve got to tip your hat to anyone who can stay married that long. Karen, he killed himself.”
7 Carrie
What hope did Carrie ever have? She was reviled at school and greeted with this response when she told her fanatical mother that she had gotten her period.
“Help the sinning woman see the sin of her days and ways, show her that if she had remained sinless the curse of blood would never have come on her.”
8 Black Swan
Another pretty freaky mother stars in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, is there a bit of a pattern emerging here? Barbara Hershey plays Natalie Portman’s terrifying mum who may or may not even exist (watch it!). We reckon Black Swan could serve as a bit of a cautionary tale for stage mums, who are hothousing their kids from too young an age. It also features the most unbearably aggressive scenes of nail-cutting that we’ve seen since, well, our own mums cut our nails.
“It’s the role isn’t it? It’s all this pressure. I knew it would be too much, I knew it. I knew it.”
9 Heartbreakers
Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt are a mother-daughter con artist team. Sigourney marries rich men; Jennifer lures them into an affair with her, then Sigourney makes a killing in alimony. The concept should be beyond creepy, but they carry it off with the help of Gene Hackman and Ray Liotta.
“Do you have any idea how much therapy you people need?”
10 Gilmore Girls
Okay, okay, we know it’s not technically a movie but no celebration of mother-daughter relationships in popular culture is complete without the fast talking, fast walking, fast food-eating, caffeine-fuelled Gilmore Girls. It’s the ultimate guilty pleasure. And there are seven series! So if you have finished House of Cards, become disillusioned with Girls and need to fill the gap until Orange is the New Black is out, then look no further than this feel-good family drama.
