Mommy (2014)

Xavier Dolan crafts in Mommy a harrowing portrait of motherhood pushed to its limits. Die, a working-class widow, struggles to raise Steve, a teenager with severe behavioral disorders whose impulsivity and violence drag her into a cycle of love, exhaustion, and despair. The arrival of Kyla, a neighbor navigating her own crisis, introduces a temporary respite: together, mother, son, and neighbor form a fragile unit that offers hope amidst the chaos. But Dolan permits no easy fantasies. The screenplay uncompromisingly reveals how the son's violence is not pure malice but a symptom of a disorder he himself cannot control, and how maternal love can be both heroic and devastating.

The film demands maturity. Violence is frequent and disturbing: physical altercations, domestic aggression, destruction of property. The language is crude and vulgar. There are sexual references. None of this is gratuitous: Dolan employs sensory intensity to convey the emotional brutality of the situation. The square screen format visually reinforces the claustrophobia of their lives. For parents, Mommy is a work that poses profound questions about filial responsibility, sacrifice, and the limits of human love. It is not suitable for minors or for viewers seeking light entertainment. Yet there is no ideological agenda: it is a brutal and sincere human drama about a mother who does not relinquish her son despite everything.