A suburban housewife finds a used condom while vacuuming her house.
It could only have come from one of two people, her fifteen-year-old daughter or her husband…

Directors Statement

Mother is adapted from the short comic of the same name by comic book artist Chris Gooch. As such we already had a starting point for the storyboards and overall style of the film. We set out not to make a ‘comic book movie’ but show off the complexities of Chris’ original comic. This meant maintaining the realism of the comic book while emphasising the darker comedic moments of the story. The cinematic moments of the original material translate well onto the screen and create the overall tone of the film. In not approaching the film as a genre piece “Mother’ ends up sitting somewhere between a dark comedy, a tense drama, and an absurdist piece. I set out not to make a film of any particular genre or form rather just a character piece in which we observe this strange moment in Julie’s life. Everything seems at odds against her and even her Psychiatrist seems more interested in solving the mystery of the condoms origin then Julie’s mental wellbeing. This leads to Julie’s need to make her own decision at the end and also her sacrifice for her families happiness. The open-ended style of the story can be frustrating but I feel it opens up the film for discussion and also leaves us wondering what the future holds for Julie as she sits on the couch wondering if she made the right decision. Mother is a simple yet dense tale of a wife making a strange decision to keep her family together. It is at once a dark comedy and a drama about the sacrifices we make to be happy.