Clevercell Very disappointing...

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

gizmomogwai Just saw Mommy (2014) this week, and what a revelation! Great Canadian film by Montreal filmmaker Xavier Dolan, who was only 25 when he made at, and his since gone on to win the Cannes Grand Prix. My expectations weren't high since the only other film I had seen of his was Laurence Anyways, which was really, really long, and felt longer. A number of critics commented how Mommy was I Killed My Mother inverted, told from the perspective of the mother, so I was curious to check it out. Canada also submitted I Killed My Mother for the Foreign Language Oscar.A number of critics had commented Mommy showed Dolan had matured as a director, and I could understand why after seeing I Killed My Mother. It's OK, but it's not great filmmaking or particularly mature. The protagonist- played by Dolan himself- often struck me as a whining brat. There's often conflict between moms and sons, but whether it's significant enough to be a great film is another story- she's not the worst mom ever. One thing that did impress me was how different Anne Dorval is as the mother in both films- Dolan said he deliberately cast her as opposites, and he wasn't kidding! Shows she's a great actress, and it makes me wonder which character is closer to the real her. Unfortunately, despite its Grand Prix, It's Only the End of the World got panned, but Dolan's still young and likely has a future ahead of him.

lefkiosvanrooy Xavier Dolan's directorial debut talks about the relationship between a single mother and her gay son, and heavily draws experience from the director's personal relationship with his own mother. The semi-autobiographical nature of the film is apparent in the authenticity and raw emotion expressed between the characters like the frustration and endless friction that comes from a relationship like this. It is refreshing to see this topic being explored through the eyes of a young adult, whose thoughts and opinions on the matter are still fresh and unaltered by time and circumstances that life brings. Dolan is young enough to remember well the feelings of overwhelming frustration to the level of almost hate experienced by a teenager having to deal with a difficult and sometimes intolerable mom, and at the same time is old enough to portray this relationship with some maturity and understanding of the mother's point of view. The result is a movie that will hit home to many people that have lived with their single mom in their teen years. For them this movie could be seen as a portrait of the relentless, absurd cycle of fights and tantrums, that while they may have seemed unbearable at the time (the character says that whoever does not admit hating their mother at one point in their lives is lying), are now viewed with a more comedic spin as to how insignificant they would often be.

zetes During the recent Cannes Film Festival, while going over tweets on in competition films, the most passionate responses seemed to be for Xavier Dolan's fifth film, Mommy (it ended up winning the Jury prize). I had been hearing good things about Dolan for the past few years (mostly that he was a shockingly great director for someone so young - he directed Mommy when he was only 25 and his first film, I Killed My Mother, at 19), so, his first three films being on Netflix Instant, I decided to take the plunge. And, I must say, the buzz is more than justified. I Killed My Mother, which is most often named as his best work, is an absolutely great film - and, yes, it was directed when Dolan was only 19! It helps that the story is semi-autobiographical - the teenage point of view is very important to the film, and it's easily one of the most honest films ever made about teenagers. What's more amazing is that equal time and empathy is given to the mother character. It's hard to believe a teenage boy would have this much understanding of her point of view. Dolan himself plays Hubert, an arrogant, pretentious 16 year-old who hates his mother (Anne Dorval). While Dorval doesn't come off as a completely innocent character, either, Dolan realizes that his character is kind of a little prick. The two are constantly at each other's throats. There isn't much plot, but it's so beautifully observed. Honestly, while the film is not hard to watch and is actually kind of humorous, this hit so close to home for me that I felt devastated throughout. Both of the leads are wonderful, particularly Dorval (she also stars in Mommy, which is something of a sequel, at least in spirit). I should also mention that Dolan is a world class filmmaker. One would expect the actual cinema to be sloppy, but he pays a lot of attention to his visual compositions. This is absolutely fantastic.

erin_osullivan I just finished watching this film online with poorly translated subtitles which made it difficult to decipher what the characters were saying some of the time, however I got the gist of what was going on.A few of the reviews I've read have said they couldn't stand the main character and it dragged the film down. I think this film works because the main character is so bratty! He is absolutely wretched to his mother at some points and his mother perfectly nice back to him. One reviewer said they couldn't understand why he was so mean to his mother 'for no reason'. I actually related to Hubert's character getting annoyed at little things because when you're a teenager everything about your parent can annoy you! The first scene is stellar with the mother having cream cheese on her face and it annoying Hubert.I also believe that him being a 'closeted' gay and wanting freedom from his mother would also have been contributing factors as to why he was such a brat to his mother. The constant struggle between wanting to be independent of your parents but also not being quite old enough to be completely alone and still depending on a parent is what is captured so well in this film. I like that you can see the angst between mother and son from the child's eyes, frustrated yet loving. Hubert is a tortured soul! Everything is a little exaggerated, but wasn't every little problem a big deal when you were 16? This film was great in my eyes. I got a lot of entertainment from it and it's an amazing effort for the first directorial. It is definitely stylised and borrows from the likes of Wong Kar Wai (violins??) but it suits the film and contemporary setting and interests of young adults today.