Maternal affairs: ‘The Good Mother’ is a well

Aug 31, 2023

From the three-time Academy Award®-winning producer of 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' 'The Good Mother' follows journalist Marissa Bennings who, after the murder of her estranged son, forms an unlikely alliance with his pregnant girlfriend Paige to track down the killers. Together, they confront a world of corruption and drugs in the seedy underbelly of a small city in upstate New York. As they get closer to the truth, they unearth an even darker secret. Starring two-time Academy Award®-winner Hilary Swank, Olivia Cooke and Jack Reynor.

I only have the best things to say about The Good Mother — a slick, engrossing, and intelligent murder mystery with a powerhouse cast, including Hilary Swank, Olivia Cooke, and Jack Reynor.

Operating like a classic film-noir, The Good Mother follows newspaper journalist Marissa Bennings (Swank) in Albany, NY, trying “to break paralysis and process grief amidst one of the worst drug epidemics in history.” She learns that her estranged son, Michael, has been murdered. Soon, Marrisa forms an unlikely alliance with her late son’s pregnant girlfriend, Paige (Cooke), a former junkie. With the help of Marissa’s other son, Toby (an excellent Reynor), a police officer, the three work together to make sense of everything and discover who’s behind it.

Directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte (Dreamland), this film is a super tight 90 minutes that packs all kinds of complexities without leaving the audience feeling overwhelmed or shorted. The characters are the lifeblood, and everything director Joris-Peyrafitte puts around them reveals more of a struggle within them.

Olivia Cooke and Hilary Swank as Paige and Marissa in 'The Good Mother.'

Other films would likely add 30 minutes of filler and offer many exposition dumps; however, that’s not The Good Mother. The devil truly is in the details. Every moment has a purpose. A comment about a character’s necklace or how they greet each other tells you everything you need to know about everyone and their relationships with one another. The history can be felt.

Charlotte Hornsby’s cinematography also deserves praise. Sometimes, the frame puts distance between a character, offering even more information without the need for a spoon. You’ll find it incredibly fruitful if you dial into what’s going on in a frame and how the character behaves within it. It also allows the pressure-cooker intensity to earn its keep. Look out for well-executed scenes involving a cell phone and a rail yard chase with red and yellow lights.

Joris-Peyrafitte clearly has more great stories to tell. There’s a trust he has in the audience that’s very much appreciated, and his style just bleeds cool.

The Good Mother will likely be a largely overlooked film, and I hope more people find it and appreciate its details.

Jack Reynor as Toby in 'The Good Mother.'

The Denton Record-Chronicle had the recent opportunity to speak with director Miles Joris-Petrafitte about The Good Mother. In the above interview, we chat about the film’s naturalism, the details that carry a mighty pen, and the poetry that informed the script and visuals.

(Special thanks to Jack Reynor for reelin’ in a good fan question.)

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PRESTON BARTA is a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association. Read his work here, on FreshFiction.tv and RottenTomatoes.com. Follow him on Instagram at @bluraydad.