Overview
A mother's worst fears come to life when a phone call from her son turns into a nightmare.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Breakneck
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- None
- frantic
- claustrophobic
- intimate
- short film night
- festival film viewing
What critics said
Critics and audiences broadly praised the short film's tightly controlled real-time telephone suspense and Marta Nieto's emotionally intense performance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The phone crisis develops minute by minute as Elena and her mother urgently respond to Iván's changing situation.
Elena's conversation with Iván and the parallel calls to the father and police generate nearly all of the suspense.
The routine act of putting away shopping in the apartment is abruptly overwhelmed by Elena's fear for her isolated son.
Elena cannot physically reach Iván and must infer his danger through his voice from a beach in France.
Films like Mother, and why
The Guilty
real-time domestic crisis, escalating telephone suspense, and maternal panic
Locke
contained psychological tension driven by phone conversations and an unfolding emergency
The Father
intimate family drama transformed into a tense rescue thriller through a child in danger
Movie Details
- Director
- Rodrigo Sorogoyen
- Release Date
- 2017-03-10
- Runtime
- 18 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (88)
Cast
- Marta Nieto
- Álvaro Balas
- Blanca Apilánez
- Miriam Correa
Common questions
- What is Mother about?
- A mother's ordinary afternoon becomes a breathless remote rescue effort when her young son calls alone from a French beach.
- What is Mother like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Mother as breakneck, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Mother violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Mother.
- What did critics think of Mother?
- Critics and audiences broadly praised the short film's tightly controlled real-time telephone suspense and Marta Nieto's emotionally intense performance.
- Which films are like Mother?
- Films with a similar feel include The Guilty, Locke, and The Father.
- How long is Mother?
- Mother runs 18 minutes.
