Anne Hathaway’s new movie Mothers’ Instinct is out now in cinemas, and the reviews have been released, too.
Unfortunately, they aren’t all that great, netting the film a below-average 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, at the time of writing.
Hathaway and Jessica Chastain star as two 1960s neighbours who experience a horrible tragedy when one of their children falls from the balcony to their death. Soon enough, paranoia sets in and sinister accusations start getting thrown around.
While the film and its trailer bill it as a psychological thriller, critics found it more on the silly side and an exercise in unintentional camp.
As a reminder, Rotten Tomatoes scores reflect the percent of critics who gave positive reviews, rather than an average of the scores. So in this case, less than half of them liked it at this time.
Here are what some reviews have said.
The Guardian – 2/5
“The movie ends up with such wild absurdity that it’s difficult to recall the interesting and plausible touches of dysfunction and ambiguity that went into the opening scenes – particularly some business concerning a kid’s toy bunny. But when the curtain rises on the third act, it is time for some very ripe and silly overacting and homicidal machinations which are wince-making in the wrong way.”
The Telegraph – 2/5
“Susan Sontag famously defined camp as ‘a seriousness that fails’. Where does that leave failed camp? Exhibit A: the duffness of Mothers’ Instinct, which pairs Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway as 1960s neighbours feuding after a tragedy we can neither take seriously nor relish in the least.”
Empire – 4/5
“The real power of Mothers’ Instinct lies in its dynamite cast. Hathaway, whose hair and costuming has echoes of Jackie Kennedy, is outstanding as a mother trying to reacclimate to society after a terrible loss. It’s the hints at something more sinister lying behind the sincerity of her performance that makes her such a treat to watch. Chastain provides a worthy foil, suffering from her own overpowering guilt and anxiety while simultaneously trying to create an idyllic life for her husband and son.”
The Film Stage – B-
“Mothers’ Instinct slowly, surely gravitates from social-issue melodrama into more conventional thriller territory, and this isn’t a slight letdown from what came before for how well Hathaway threads the needle between two disparate genres. The more impressive thing about Delhomme’s film is that it, for the most part, commits to being a sincere, character-driven story about the very different effects grief has on two people, risking caricature because of its occasionally overblown theatrics while maintaining a sincerity through it all.”