Ma mère
A sheltered young man is pulled into his mother's nocturnal world of erotic excess, forcing him to confront desire, family secrets, and moral disorientation.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- provocative
- disturbing
- erotic
- challenging arthouse viewing
- new french extremity retrospective
What critics said
Critics broadly regarded the film as tightly controlled but ultimately dull, pretentious, and excessively perverse.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film has been explicitly likened to the New French Extremity and centers on sexual exploitation, exhibitionism, and taboo desire.
Héléne draws Pierre into a hedonistic nightlife while implying a lover-like relationship and exposing him to sexualized adult spaces.
Pierre is taken from a family environment into nightclubs and a world of sexual exploitation, exhibitionism, and wildness.
The nightclub episodes and voyeuristic atmosphere frame sexuality as unsettling, public, and emotionally estranging.
Films like Ma mère, and why
twentynine palms
shared new french extremity provocation, transgressive sexuality, and psychologically destabilizing drama
baise-moi
shared arthouse extremity, erotic alienation, and confrontational treatment of sexual transgression
the piano teacher
shared morally transgressive sexuality, family dysfunction, and unsettling psychological intensity
Movie Details
- Director
- Christophe Honoré
- Release Date
- 2004-05-19
- Runtime
- 112 min
- Rating
- 4.5 / 10 (183)
Cast
- Isabelle Huppert
- Louis Garrel
- Emma de Caunes
- Joana Preiss
- Dominique Reymond
- Jean-Baptiste Montagut
- Olivier Rabourdin
- Philippe Duclos
- Pascal Tokatlian
- Théo Hakola
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Ma mère about?
- A sheltered young man is pulled into his mother's nocturnal world of erotic excess, forcing him to confront desire, family secrets, and moral disorientation.
- What is Ma mère like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Ma mère as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Ma mère violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Ma mère.
- What did critics think of Ma mère?
- Critics broadly regarded the film as tightly controlled but ultimately dull, pretentious, and excessively perverse.
- Which films are like Ma mère?
- Films with a similar feel include twentynine palms, baise-moi, and the piano teacher.
- How long is Ma mère?
- Ma mère runs 112 minutes.
- Where can I watch Ma mère?
- In United States, Ma mère is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
