The Mother

2003 1h 52m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 73

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A grandmother has a passionate affair with a man half her age, who is also sleeping with her daughter.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Anne Reid
May
Daniel Craig
Darren
Peter Vaughan
Toots
Steven Mackintosh
Bobby
Cathryn Bradshaw
Paula
Anna Wilson-Jones
Helen
Danira Gović
Au Pair
Izabella Telezynska
Polish Cleaner

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roger Michell
Writers: Hanif Kureishi
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 42% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roger Michell, shot by Alwin H. Küchler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jeremy Sams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Nicolas Gaster shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Anne Reid and Daniel Craig and Peter Vaughan carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0323298 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roger Michell directs. Alwin H. Küchler behind the camera. Jeremy Sams scores. Nicolas Gaster cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 42% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 23 years ago.
4Directed by Roger Michell, shot by Alwin H. Küchler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Jeremy Sams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Nicolas Gaster shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Anne Reid and Daniel Craig and Peter Vaughan carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0323298 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 73 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Alwin H. Küchler
Original score: Jeremy Sams
Editing: Nicolas Gaster
Production design: Mark Tildesley
Costume design: Natalie Ward
Makeup / hair: Konnie Daniel
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Status: Released
Budget: $2,500,000
Box office: $1,062,253
Return: 42% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Mother (2003)

Also by

Roger Michell

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-09-03
★ 6/10
This is quite a tough film to watch. Not so much because of the subject matter, but because you just know there is an inevitability about the conclusion which is going to leave everyone damaged! Anne Reid is good as the eponymous character ("Mary") who loses her husband and finds that she just cannot go home. She spends her time between her son and his family and with her daughter and her young son. The former is having his house extended, and so has employed "Darren" (Daniel Craig) - who just happens to be the married boyfriend of her daughter "Paula" (Cathryn Bradshaw). Lonely and craving human companionship, "Mary" gradually becomes infatuated with this hunky tradesman, despite him being half her age, and he is all too willing to help her out. Obviously, her family find out and that's when it all goes awry. It's also when the plot heads full speed into melodrama. This already pretty dysfunctional family sees the wheels come off and the nuanced, emotional and sensitive elements are jettisoned for anger and an sense of the truly unpleasant and course develops. Reid and Craig have a couple of decent scenes together, but for the most part the remaining cast are all pretty lacklustre and the longer it goes on, the more desperate it seems to shock - for the sake of it. The age-gap relationship/sex storyline could have delivered something more here had director Roger Michell not just chickened out.

Production companies