The Good Mother: reviews

What the critics say average 4.7 from 22 outlets

• 8.9 The Austin ChronicleJosh Kupecki Joris-Peyrafitte tells this story with welcome subtlety and a keen attenuation to his actors. Scenes often go in unexpected directions, conventional tropes are discarded or transformed into something else entirely. Read
• 7.0 The Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz Credit Joris-Peyrafitte for creating the dark, grungy world of the movie, and for making it compelling enough that you don’t want to flee it immediately. You may not want to revisit it — this is not the sort of movie that demands repeat viewings — but “The Good Mother” is a perfectly fine film. Read
• 6.3 ObserverRex Reed It’s not a particularly interesting narrative, and the episodic script and sluggish direction by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte don’t help. On the plus side, Hilary Swank is as intensely committed as usual, but The Good Mother is not a film that offers her much of a stretch. Read
• 6.3 Third Coast ReviewSteve Prokopy But the strength of The Good Mother lies in its performances. Swank and Cooke, in particular, are quite good here and go a long way toward elevating the material beyond its run-of-the-mill screenplay. Read
• 6.0 EscribiendoCineEmiliano Basile An experienced viewer may spot this conventional structure ahead of time, and yet the film still manages to offer an intense, captivating look at the dark side of motherhood and at the complexities of crime and justice. Read
• 5.8 Dennis Schwartz Movie ReviewsDennis Schwartz Swank’s committed performance is the best thing about this gritty but disappointing drama. Read
• 5.0 Chicago Sun-TimesRichard Roeper “The Good Mother” 2023 is a disappointing and murky mess of a film that feels like an uncompleted project and leaves the viewer frustrated, despite the gritty visuals and a game lead performance by two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank. Read
• 5.0 The Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan The plot, in which Swank is given little more to do than guzzle Costco-size bottles of liquor and mope, proceeds in somewhat somnambulist fashion, generating surprisingly little suspense even when Paige confronts a suspect whose identity has been telegraphed throughout the film. Read
• 5.0 Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips The strongest minutes in “The Good Mother” belongs to Chicago-trained Karen Aldridge. She takes care of business so well in her monologue about her character’s grief and loss, her exit from the narrative becomes just one more oh-well factor in an indifferent Albany noir. Read
• 5.0 Roger EbertKatie Rife Indeed, reality is often frustratingly vague and unresolved, and if “The Good Mother” had committed to this principle, there’d be something worth admiring here, however begrudgingly. As it is, “The Good Mother” starts with a gunshot and ends with a whimper. Read
• 5.0 Los Angeles TimesKatie Walsh Cooke and her character, Paige, inject some life into the proceedings, but the central mystery feels forced, the twists implausible. The screenplay strains for topicality, stuffing too many elements at once into this sad story in a bid for relevance that never quite resonates. Read
• 5.0 The AU ReviewPeter Gray Unsure what genre personality it wants to commit to, The Good Mother is a figure of initial intrigue and relatable solemnness before it succumbs to expected thriller grandeur. Read
• 4.5 Spectrum CultureAnthony Greene The Good Mother is an urban tragedy with solid actors and a tone-deaf script. The big twist should stick with you, but the revelation is so foreshadowed that you’ll groan when it finally is brought to light. Read
• 4.2 InSession FilmM.N. Miller While I admire the finale’s choice, the underwhelming road to get there is a monotonous ride that, at the very least, has a merciful 90-minute running time. Read
• 4.0 Screen RantPatrice Witherspoon The beginning of The Good Mother sets itself up as an interesting murder mystery with a great deal to say about the fentanyl epidemic. But as the film progresses, it struggles to pick a lane that makes sense for its story and their characters. Read
• 4.0 La NaciónPaula Vázquez Prieto The misfortune of The Good Mother proves that the crime film is a complex genre when it is taken seriously and an erratic shell when it is settled with cheap effects and little skill. Read
• 4.0 La Voz del InteriorJesús Rubio Swank, Cooke and Reynor keep a certain conviction in their performances and stay loyal to a manipulative screenplay full of holes, twists and liberties that work against the story’s credibility. Read
• 3.8 Movie NationRoger Moore There are good things about it, but nothing great and nothing all that worthy of our attention. But the cast battles any low expectations it might create and gives the viewer something to hang onto. Read
• 2.5 San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson There’s a good movie somewhere in “The Good Mother,” a showcase for the always-interesting Hilary Swank, but unfortunately co-writer and director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte can’t find it. Read
• 2.5 A Sala LlenaMarcelo Zapata This is a trivial crime drama, incapable of exciting or unsettling anyone, its outcome predictable from the opening credits. Read
• 2.0 Houston PressPete Vonder Haar The Good Mother almost feels like an extended episode of a television procedural: a predictable whodunit that belatedly throws some stuff at the wall about coping with loss, but lacks saying much of anything shocking or suspenseful. Read
• 1.5 ABC NewsPeter Travers “The Good Mother,” out in theaters now, is an overblown drug drama that makes its brief running time of one hour and 29 minutes feel like an eternity. Read