Darren Thornton’s Four Mothers is a sweet comedy that will have audiences laughing and crying in the same beat.
Director: Darren Thornton
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Run Time: 89′
BFI London Film Festival Screening: October 13-15, 2024
U.S. Release Date: TBA
U.K. Release Date: TBA
“For once, just make a decision and live with it,” one of the characters tells the protagonist towards the end of Four Mothers. While this film is very much about the titular four mothers, it is also about the son who cares for them in their old age. As the movie goes on, he is the one who goes through a journey of self-growth, one that will see him having to come to terms with some difficult decisions he took in his past and some he has to make for his future.
Set in Ireland, Four Mothers follows Edward (James McArdle, of Ammonite) a novelist whose career has just started taking off, as he cares for his elderly mother Alma (Fionnula Flanagan, of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes). Edward lives at home, where he is helping his mother recover from a stroke that has impacted her mobility and has made her lose her voice, forcing her to talk through technology on her mobile device. Edward’s friends are also looking after their mothers until they decide to take some time for themselves to go to Pride, leaving Edward to care for all of their mothers, plus his own. At the same time, the protagonist gets the chance to do a book tour in the US following the widespread success his debut novel is having on TikTok, but can he go away for two weeks despite his caring responsibilities?
The opening of Four Mothers perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the film: Alma is talking to her son through a voice assist on her iPad while he is live on the radio, essentially ruining his interview with her comments and corrections on what he is saying, and how he is saying it. It is really funny, so much so that half the people in my screening were audibly laughing at 9 am on a Sunday, but if you stop and think about the situation the protagonist is in, its sadness creeps in. The mothers are a joy to watch on screen, but he is equally responsible for the laughs and heartwarming moments in the movie as the most relatable character for many of us in the audience.
As it goes on, the film becomes an ode to finding a community. Maybe the situation is neither perfect nor ideal, yet the protagonists of Four Mothers manage to make the best of it, despite some initial complaints from those involved. This is especially true for the mothers who find companionship in their shared struggles. They might have a million differences, but they all love their respective sons, mourn their husbands’ deaths, and struggle with the pains and illnesses of their old age. If there is any solace to be found, it is in sharing this with those who understand it, as the final scene of the film eloquently proves.
There is also an entire part of Four Mothers that focuses on Edward’s career as a writer, but unfortunately, it feels more like a subplot for the most part than anything else. If we had seen more of Edward as a writer, other than a few snapshots of his book that we hear him read here and there in the film, he could have been more well-rounded as a character. It also would have helped the stakes of the film to make the audience care about the book tour he may or may not get to go on.
This is also a shame because this plotline raised some interesting questions about book marketing and sales. During the film, Edward is struggling to market his book in the way his publishers want, which is by focusing almost exclusively on the novel as a gay love story rather than the subtext. Paired with the fact that he became successful through TikTok, there is a lot the film could have said about the current state of the publishing industry. However, Four Mothers never really explores this commentary as much as it could have but rather keeps a tight focus on the four women who end up the life and soul of this movie.
Four Mothers is the perfect feel-good film and definitely one of the surprises of the festival so far. It may not be very memorable, but it has heart and it also clearly has something to say. Its writing is not always the strongest, but the characters and the actors behind it are what truly elevate the final product into a funny and heartwarming comedy I thoroughly enjoyed. The final message of living for yourself and finding a community is also well-delivered and fits very well with the overall tone of the movie.
Four Mothers had its World Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 13, 2024.
