"Mothering Sunday" -- Movie Review

This week at Lincoln Center, I attended an advance screening of the new romantic drama, “Mothering Sunday”.  

Synopsis

When a young maid begins a relationship with a man above her station, how will this experience alter the course of her life?

Story

“Mothering Sunday” is a holiday in the United Kingdom similar to “Mother’s Day”.  In 1924, Jane (Odessa Young), who works as a maid for the Nivens family (Colin Firth and Olivia Colman), is fortunate to have the day off on this year’s Mothering Sunday.  Jane makes good use of her rare free time by having a tryst with Paul (Josh O’Connor), the son of Mr. and Mrs. Sheringham, friends of The Nivens.  Paul is currently in law school and coming from a family of means, he certainly has a bright future ahead of him.  The fact that Paul is engaged to marry Emma (Emma D'Arcy) doesn’t bother Jane one bit.

Paul and Jane seem to be infatuated with each other, but both also appear to realize that they are not destined to be together.  Unfortunately, Paul is somewhat less enthusiastic about marrying Emma – something which his fiancée is quick to surmise.  The fact that she will embark on a loveless marriage that is only being done to maintain familial wealth leaves Emma understandably upset.  When a tragedy occurs, everyone’s plans are scotched.  This brings Jane to realize that her time working as a maid for The Nivens has come to an end, so she resigns her position.    

Taking a job as a clerk in a bookstore, Jane is gifted a typewriter by the store owner; this inspires her to try her hand at becoming a writer herself.  While working at the store during the day, she meets Donald (Sope Dirisu), a new customer.  The two strike up a quick friendship, which soon turns romantic.  Unable to deny their attraction to each other, they marry.  Jane develops a successful career as an author, but her blissful life with Donald is disrupted unexpectedly when he falls ill.  While caring for Donald, will Jane still be able to fulfill her destiny as an acclaimed novelist?  

Review

Good grief!  Between the elliptical nature of the storytelling, the flashbacks, flash-forwards and the numerous characters introduced throughout, “Mothering Sunday” can be a movie that’s a bit of a challenging watch.  When you go from one timeframe or another, the audience is taken out of the story momentarily (maybe longer than momentarily) while we try to get our bearings in terms of what we’re seeing and with whom.  Ultimately, the conclusion of the film is supposed to present itself as an emotional haymaker to the viewer, but by that point, one may find oneself too exhausted to care.  

If you’re looking for any positives in “Mothering Sunday”, it would be that it’s beautifully shot – that gorgeous English countryside certainly doesn’t hurt one bit.  Also, for those who look forward to seeing some not-so-brief nudity in their film-going experience, it’s a guarantee that both men and women will find plenty to drool over (wearing a bib is highly recommended here).  Expect Mr. Skin to include this one on his site before too long in order to help you “fast-forward to the good parts”, as he likes to say.  Just don’t let the occasionally ponderous nature of the film turn you off too much.      

Following the screening, there was an interview with “Mothering Sunday” director Eva Husson and its star Odessa Young.  Young said that she was able to connect with the character of Jane because she was described as an “occupational observer of life” and she believes that as an actress, she is the same.  When she played Jane decades later, she had to use prosthetics and she described that experience as her entry point into that phase of the character’s life.  Young added that in her portrayal of this character, she could understand that we all know loss so we can relate to that; sometimes, our life decisions are made from a tragedy.