Like Rose as a flatmate, it's a little too much in a small space. Not that the wretchedness of Rose’s life can or should be avoided or ignored: Full marks to Serraille and Lengronne for making her mark.

Full Review | Sep 21, 2023

Without shouting any issues loudly, the film makes provocative comments about the nature of identity, security and what's really important in life.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 18, 2023

[A] beguiling but frustrating family drama.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 3, 2023

It’s a deeply intimate exploration of belonging and brotherhood which is made all the better thanks to the phenomenal performances from the entire cast, each of whom feels completely natural in their respective role.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 3, 2023

The film doesn’t want to pass judgment on the topic of frantic dating while mothering, and thanks to Lengronne’s enigmatic performance, she carries us along while we wait, largely in vain, for the story to gather steam.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 30, 2023

Filled with strong sentiment but without sentimentality.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 30, 2023

This heart-wrenching French drama is epic in storytelling scope and laser-focused on the most minute emotional shifts of its deeply sympathetic characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 29, 2023

The film is a bit too loosely structured for its own good. In numerous scenes, however, it creates poignant, truthful moments of family drama.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 29, 2023

Mother and Son is a terribly sad and moving story of the destruction of a family -- and perhaps its rebuilding in a different form.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 29, 2023

Un petit frère, accurately reflects the triangulated structure of the narrative which passes like a baton from character to character, building a nuanced portrait of familial love but also of neglect and pain.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 29, 2023

Lengronne puts in a funny, expressive and characterful turn playing someone who refuses to be meekly grateful, chafes against those that help her and won’t have her future decided for her.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 28, 2023

Annabelle Lengronne is a star for the real France. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 9, 2023

It never commits deep, formal infamies, and yet it never tries to avoid them. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jan 11, 2023

Léonor Serraille’s Mother and Son is a lovely film about feminine strength that also refuses to glorify motherhood.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 19, 2022

Writer and director Leonor Serraille crafts a beautifully tender portrait of a family, a gentle meditation on the meanings of memories and how our pasts mold our presents and futures.

Full Review | Aug 5, 2022

An entry to satisfy an average taste. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | May 31, 2022

A solvent, honest work, with a frank and non-paternalistic look. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | May 31, 2022

Although defying the usual slant of miserablism often underlining many tales of immigration... this somewhat gentle tale also neglects its three main characters in sticking to superficiality as it flits between the three of them across time periods.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | May 31, 2022

What’s upsetting about Mother and Son's constant desire for every action to have a point is that everything feels too labored.

Full Review | May 30, 2022

Léonor Serraille comes good with her novelistic second feature about an immigrant family fighting for survival in France.

Full Review | May 30, 2022