Mothering Sunday

2021 1h 44m EN

😐

5.4

MID

★5.4TMDB · 138

RomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

On a warm spring day in 1924, house maid and foundling Jane Fairchild finds herself alone on Mother's Day. Her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Niven, are out and she has the rare chance to spend quality time with her secret lover. Paul is the boy from the manor house nearby, Jane's long-term love despite the fact that he's engaged to be married to another woman, a childhood friend and daughter of his parents' friends. But events that neither can foresee will change the course of Jane's life forever.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Odessa Young
Jane Fairchild
Josh O'Connor
Paul Sheringham
Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù
Donald
Patsy Ferran
Milly
Emma D'Arcy
Emma Hobday
Glenda Jackson
Jane (Older)
Olivia Colman
Mrs Clarrie Niven
Colin Firth
Mr Godfrey Niven

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Eva Husson
Writers: Alice Birch
Languages: English
Countries: Germany, 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 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Germany, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Eva Husson, shot by Jamie D. Ramsay. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Odessa Young and Josh O'Connor and Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt12229370 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Eva Husson directs. Jamie D. Ramsay behind the camera. Morgan Kibby scores. Emilie Orsini cuts. Produced in Germany, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 5 years ago.
2International production across 2 countries: Germany, United Kingdom.
3Directed by Eva Husson, shot by Jamie D. Ramsay. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Morgan Kibby. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Emilie Orsini shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Odessa Young and Josh O'Connor and Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt12229370 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 8 themes, including "based on novel or book", "england", "post world war i", "maid".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jamie D. Ramsay
Original score: Morgan Kibby
Editing: Emilie Orsini
Production design: Helen Scott
Costume design: Sandy Powell
Makeup / hair: Nadia Stacey
VFX supervisor: Luca Zappala
Sound: Robert Ireland
Stunt coordinator: Elaine Ford
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $2,260,859
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Mothering Sunday (2021)

Also by

Eva Husson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-03-27
★ 6/10
Told by way of a retrospective triptych of recollections from the now successful author "Jane" (Glenda Jackson), we are taken back in time to her younger self - Odessa Young - who portrays an orphaned young maid working in the home of the "Niven" family - Colin Firth and Olivia Colman. Over the course of the first portion of the film we learn that she has been having a dalliance with "Paul" (Josh O'Connor), the son of the neighbouring "Sheringham" family. The pair appear in love with each other, but he is promised elsewhere - what happens next? This features quite a delicate effort from Young, more remarkable because she appears in a great many scenes completely naked (as does O'Connor) - but not gratuitously so. It is the most natural of scenarios. There is nothing more odd in a film than scenes that show lust and sex then conclude with one or both miraculously having acquired underwear! Eva Husson offers us a glimpse of a romance that is gently plausible and engaging. That does, however, bring us to the rest of story. That's not so hot, and initially set after the end of WWI, steeps us in familial grief and sadness but without us really having anything like enough information to empathise nor commiserate. Cigarettes feature prominently too - like a sort of prop for the seductive but underused O'Connor and for his would-be bride (Caroline Harker). There is also something very predictable about this conclusion of this stage of her life, and the relationship between Firth and Young left me puzzled a bit. The second element sees "Jane" living in London with her new partner "Donald" (Sope Dirisu) - but that somehow dilutes the overall impact of the first element. It presents a rather sad chapter in her life, but to what end? Just to perpetuate the sensation that melancholia follows her around as night follows day? He is a man of colour, yet the relative rarity of that scenario in Britain at the time isn't in any way developed. Indeed, it just sort of peters out. The final scenes with Glenda Jackson are poignant. They depict a rather lonely - if stoic - old lady who, perhaps not unlike the lady herself, is looking back on her own life... It is a great looking film, lots of fine costumes and stately homes - but somehow it undercooks the primary element and clutters the story up with the others. It all felt just a little bit hollow.

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