Mother (2019 Spanish film)

Mother (Madre) is a 2019 Spanish-French drama film directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen and co-written by Isabel Peña. The film is based on the 2017 short film of the same name directed by Sorogoyen. It stars Marta Nieto, Jules Porier and Àlex Brendemühl.

The film received three nominations at the 34th Goya Awards, including Best Actress for Marta Nieto, her first Goya nomination and Best Adapted Screenplay for Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Isabel Peña.

Plot
Ten years ago, Elena received a call in which Ivan, her six-year-old son, told her that he was lost on a beach in France and that he could not find his father. It was the last thing he knew about him. Now Elena lives on that beach, works as a manager in a restaurant and is starting to leave that dark tunnel where she stayed anchored all this time.

Cast

 * Marta Nieto as Elena
 * Jules Porier as Jean
 * Àlex Brendemühl as Joseba
 * Anne Consigny as Léa
 * Frédéric Pierrot as Grégory

Production
The film was shot largely in the seaside town of Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains.

Release
Mother was the opening film for the Seville European Film Festival (SEFF) in 2019.

The film was released in cinemas in Spain on 15 November 2019. It competed in the Orizzonti Section at the 76th Venice International Film Festival.

Box office
Mother grossed $969,100 worldwide.

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on  reviews, with an average rating of. On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 76 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Ryan Lattanzio from Indiewire gave the film a B writing that the film "turns out to be the least twisted, and most empathetic, entry in the damaged mother movie canon in some time.".

Kevin Crust for the Los Angeles Times commented that "despite its melancholy bearing, "Madre" is a hopeful meditation on grief and memory".