Our Mother: A slow, dusty look at family secrets

Is this for you?

Honestly, Our Mother is a weird, slow burn. If you’re the type of person who needs to check your phone every five minutes, you’re going to be bored out of your mind. But if you like old films that feel like they’re made of paper and dust, you’ll probably find something to hang onto here. It’s not for the casual Netflix scroller.

It feels a lot like Lady by Choice in the way it handles its characters, but with less sparkle and more grit. It’s not a masterpiece, and it doesn’t really try to be.

The vibe

There’s a specific kind of silence in this movie. Not the tense, scary kind you get in something like Hide and Seek, but a heavy, lived-in silence. People stand in rooms and just… look at each other. It’s awkward, but in a way that feels honest. Sometimes the camera lingers on a doorway for way too long. I spent most of that time wondering if the actor just forgot their next line or if the director was really into the architecture.

Odd little things

• The lighting in the kitchen scene is surprisingly harsh.
• I’m pretty sure I saw a curtain twitch when no one was supposed to be there.
• Some of the dialogue is so formal it sounds like it was ripped from a stage play written in a vacuum.

It’s not perfect. The transitions between scenes are sometimes jarring, like the editor just ran out of film and had to make do. It reminds me of the pacing in The Arizona Whirlwind, where things just sort of stop and start without much warning. It’s charming, in a clumsy way.

Final thoughts

There’s this moment near the end where the mother just sighs. It’s not a big, dramatic movie sigh. It’s just tired. You can tell she’s done with the whole situation. It’s the most real thing in the entire ninety minutes. 🙄

Don’t go looking for deep themes or high-brow cinema. It’s just a story about a family trying not to fall apart. Sometimes that’s enough. Other times, it just makes you want to go wash the dishes. Grab a coffee, settle in, and don’t worry if you drift off for a minute. You won’t miss much.