I Killed My Mother

Name: I Killed My Mother
Genre: Biography, Drama
Released: July 30, 2010
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 77

2010

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 72 Ratings

See All

7.8

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7.8	Your Score
7.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 72 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Movie Details & Credits

Kino Lorber | Release Date: July 30, 2010 | Not Rated

Summary: Hubert Minel (Xavier Dolan) is a 16-year-old Québécois living in suburban Montreal with his single mother, Chantale (Anne Dorval). Beautifully capturing the anxieties of a mother-son relationship, as well as their inability to re-affirm their love for each other, Dolan made a movie that tackles a variety of issues including bullying, theHubert Minel (Xavier Dolan) is a 16-year-old Québécois living in suburban Montreal with his single mother, Chantale (Anne Dorval). Beautifully capturing the anxieties of a mother-son relationship, as well as their inability to re-affirm their love for each other, Dolan made a movie that tackles a variety of issues including bullying, the difficulties of single parenting, and many specific challenges facing queer youth.… Expand

Director: Xavier Dolan

Genre(s): Biography, Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 96 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

IndieWire Eric Kohn

Mar 13, 2013

Xavier Dolan's I Killed My Mother marks the emergence of an exciting new filmmaking talent. The Montreal actor, a mere 20 years old, displays a startlingly mature perspective on human behavior in his triple threat position as writer-director-star. Read full review

Rachel Saltz

Mar 13, 2013

As a director, Mr. Dolan has a freewheeling style, and he’s self-dramatizing enough to want to call attention to it without being too much of a visual show-off. Read full review

David Wiegand

Dec 13, 2017

The director is barely a kid, yet this is such a ferociously accomplished, beautifully nuanced and endlessly surprising film, you'd think the guy had been directing for decades. [13 June 2010, p.Q25]

Rick Groen

Mar 13, 2013

Love sometimes hurts, but love/hate is always pure anguish. That's the two-stroke engine powering I Killed My Mother ( J'ai tué ma mère), a coming-of-age tale as ferociously raw as its teller - the very young Xavier Dolan. Read full review

Peter Brunette

Dec 13, 2017

In the vein of Ma Vie en Rose (if not quite as polished and mature) and other gay adolescent coming-of-age films of comic rebellion, it's a congeries of brilliantly achieved cinematic moments and repetitive, massively self-indulgent gestures of acting out. Read full review

Jay Weissberg

Dec 13, 2017

There’s much to praise, especially the oh-so-real dialogue, but true psychological penetration is lacking and Dolan’s hunger to prove his talent results in a superfluity of styles. Still, multigenerational auds worldwide will likely find kinship with the many funny/painful situations, and pic is a genuine crowdpleaser. Read full review

Mar 13, 2013

I Killed My Mother is a film best heard than seen, as the earnest, nimble scrubbiness of Dolan's screenplay is ill-served by his conceited visuals, an aesthetic mode that feels insecurely borrowed from perfume commercials and the work of Jean-Luc Godard and Wong Kar-Wai. Read full review

SEE ALL 9 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

AlessandroOdo

Sep 2, 2013

The movie is full of drama, as it had to be. I mean, they're talking about a gay boy with his mom and they do not have any communication. But you can see how that lack of communication affects both. At the final part he understands her, and she does the same for him. 5 stars: The movie wasThe movie is full of drama, as it had to be. I mean, they're talking about a gay boy with his mom and they do not have any communication. But you can see how that lack of communication affects both. At the final part he understands her, and she does the same for him. 5 stars: The movie was spectacular, because you can see similar problems in the society today. The part the you'll like, it that the movie could be cliché, but it wasn't.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

SKSK

Aug 8, 2018

yet to come -----------------------------------------------------------------

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

domcalabrese

Oct 16, 2013

This is a beautiful movie, a little unrelatable at times, I feel as though it lacks pathos, but for me that didn't did not seem to be an issue worth stopping the film for. The storyline is a little back and forth, yet the drama in this is very intense and the beauty in which this film wasThis is a beautiful movie, a little unrelatable at times, I feel as though it lacks pathos, but for me that didn't did not seem to be an issue worth stopping the film for. The storyline is a little back and forth, yet the drama in this is very intense and the beauty in which this film was what amazed me. It has many similarities to "Mysterious skin" in my opinion and is a quite stark in the image it's portraying. I would not suggest watching this film with a lesson or a thought that is applicable for your life tomorrow or the next day, or with a view that you could just sit back and watch this film comfortably. It truly is an experience to watch.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Bestpony

Aug 20, 2013

One look at that summary and you already know that there's going to be some extreme navel-gazing here. The question, then, is just how much do we get out of watching Dolan work through his Oedipal traumas? The answer, in my case, is: not enough. There's nothing really wrong with this film,One look at that summary and you already know that there's going to be some extreme navel-gazing here. The question, then, is just how much do we get out of watching Dolan work through his Oedipal traumas? The answer, in my case, is: not enough. There's nothing really wrong with this film, and Dolan himself is very pleasant to look at, but the story never transcends its micro scale. Don't expect to learn anything about mothers and sons that you did not already know.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

SEE ALL 4 REVIEWS