Four Mothers

The Plot: Dubliner Edvard (James McArdle) has published his first book, a tale of teenage love. His publisher is keen for him to get on the road and do a book tour in the US to promote it. That’s easier said than done. He cares for his mother Alma (Fionnula Flanagan), who recently had a stroke and uses a tablet to speak. He’s thinking of putting her in a care home, but life has other plans. His friends regard him as a pushover and unceremoniously land him with their own mothers to deal with as they head off to the sun. Edvard, being a decent guy, accepts his situation to amusing effect…

The Verdict: Brothers Darren and Colin Thornton made a splash in the Irish film scene in 2016 with A Date For Mad Mary, gifting Seana Kerslake with the role of a lifetime as the titular character. With small independent films not easy to get off the ground even with the Irish film industry punching above its weight, it’s taken them nearly a decade to follow up with their second feature film Four Mothers. With Darren directing and Colin co-writing with him, it’s a personal film that draws upon their own memories of their late mother Trish and the caring role that middle-aged sons find themselves in at some point. They found themselves surrounded by people coming into the house to help out during and after she departed this world – fertile narrative ground for a character-based dramedy with a very Irish sense of humour that has the potential to travel.

The script amusingly paints Edvard as a Yes Man, far too obliging to his well-meaning friends. He’s caught somewhere between his own ambitions as a writer and his personal responsibilities which he takes seriously. The Thorntons mine that for some laugh-out-loud humour, with Alma reacting diplomatically to the new arrivals in her home – ‘they have to go’. Alma herself has a dry sense of humour, saying just the right thing at the right moment and sometimes the wrong thing too. The other three mothers played by Dearbhla Molloy, Stella McCusker and Paddy Glynn each bring their own eccentric aspect to the proceedings. They make impulsive decisions, forcing Edvard to go along with their schemes. Most notably, a psychic communing with their deceased husbands, played to the hilt by a game Niamh Cusack.

That said though, the story is a bit on the thin side and could have used more of the four mothers working as a collective unit – perhaps teaching the other three sons about sharing responsibility which they too easily shirk. The delivery occasionally comes across as a pilot episode for a potential sitcom, but compressed into a three-day structure that relies on story incident to a fair degree. Darren Thornton does a good job of directing his actors, with Flanagan (who was nervous about not talking) delivering one withering look after another. There are decent laughs to be had here, but there’s also a tidy, heartfelt lesson baked into the storyline about caring and compassion for our loved ones who may not be around for much longer. That alone warrants it a light recommendation, as it seems that these four mothers know best. Let’s hope that the brothers Thornton get to make another film before the decade is out. They’ve got talent and a keen sense of character.

Rating: 3 / 5

Review by Gareth O’Connor