Mia Madre
Music Box Films | Release Date: August 26, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisAug 25, 2016
Love, death, cinema — they’re all there in Mia Madre, bumping up against one another beautifully. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsAug 26, 2016
Italian drama Mia Madre is an either/or film, a humorous and poignant character study that frequently becomes an ensemble piece. Read full review
83
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonMay 23, 2015
As ever, Moretti creates a rich and incredibly detailed world, one where every character has a life that stretches far beyond their on-screen scenes. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 22, 2016
This is one of those films in which you feel like you’re known the characters for years; Moretti and his actors establish a kind of instant empathy that makes the story all the more affecting. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonAug 25, 2016
The upshot is an emotionally satisfying fusion of the mixed up and the magical. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleAug 25, 2016
With an unassuming directness, Moretti...toggles between work and life pressures in a way that finds the curious feelings and epiphanies that bind the two, and somehow give meaning to the whole dance. Read full review
80
Time OutTrevor JohnstonAug 25, 2016
The saturation of Arvo Pärt instant-melancholia on the soundtrack feels a bit too pushy, but otherwise this is a confidently controlled, accessible yet piercing look at the insidiousness of grief. It's Moretti at his best. Read full review
80
Village VoiceBilge EbiriAug 23, 2016
Mia Madre may be a delicate film, but don't be surprised if, in the end, the cumulative power of its humanity obliterates you. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie ErrigoOct 2, 2015
Among the excellent principals, top-billed Turturro enlivens things wonderfully, but the real star, Buy, is magnificent. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 23, 2015
Mia Madre is a tremendously smart and enjoyable movie. Read full review
80
Screen DailyLee MarshallApr 16, 2015
Its relatively tranquil surface, its small amusements (many of them revolving around a tasty turn by John Turturro as a histrionically insecure American leading man), its moments of touching, almost Sirkian melodrama, above all its ability to tease resonant themes out of seemingly inconsequential scenes or lines of dialogue, make for a film that is greater than the sum of its parts. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaSep 2, 2016
Moretti knows how to orchestrate a good laugh when it's needed, but he can plumb more soulful, sorrowful depths, too. In Mia Madre, with its self-doubting director and wild-card American interloper, Moretti works a palette of shifting moods. Triumphantly. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungApr 16, 2015
Simplicity and maturity of vision are the virtues here, good qualities but perhaps a little too understated for major attention-grabbing. Read full review
70
VarietyJay WeissbergApr 16, 2015
Moretti’s exploration of loss is unquestionably affecting, and My Mother has powerful moments, yet they’re not always well integrated with the broadly pitched moviemaking scenes, featuring a caricaturish John Turturro. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesSep 7, 2016
For truly affecting, there is Margherita’s teen daughter, Livia (Mancini). I don’t know if Moretti cares about catharsis, but Livia’s silent sob broke me, in the best way. Read full review
67
The Film StageEthan VestbyMay 17, 2016
The formal modesty of My Mother is not without its charms. Read full review
63
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisSep 1, 2016
It has plenty of emotionally satisfying scenes and its share of humorous moments, but the drama and comedy mix like oil and water. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesMiriam Di NunzioAug 31, 2016
The biggest reason to see the Italian dramedy “Mia Madre” can be summed up in two words: John Turturro. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 25, 2016
Moretti mostly avoids weepy melodrama, choosing instead to focus on a side meditation about the slippery nature of reality. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineEla BittencourtSep 27, 2015
The film is a carefully measured and satisfying, albeit occasionally deaf-tone, suite of fleeting, dispersed impressions. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneAug 22, 2016
Huggins is brash and brisk, of course, with Moretti cleaving to an old-fashioned myth of the American interloper. But Turturro is slightly too broad for the occasion, relishing the outbursts of the spoiled star. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 23, 2015
Mia Madre is an intimate and sincerely made family portrait, which ends up betraying its own indifference to anything beyond the confines of the family. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 24, 2016
A minor effort in which the movie-within-the-movie never seems like a real project — can’t help but be riveted by the fake production it’s mounted within itself. Read full review
50
IndieWireCelluloid Liberation FrontMay 16, 2015
Margherita's failure to elaborate on her grief is mirrored in Moretti's failure to construct a coherent film where the spectator can find a way into its meaning, rather than being caught in a confused web of suggestions, half-baked ideas and circular exposition. Read full review
40
The TelegraphAndrew PettieMay 23, 2015
Turturro deserves four stars – but the rest of Moretti’s saggy melodrama is scarcely half as good. Read full review
More From This Movie

70 Critic Reviews

6.2 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL