The Good Mother
Vertical Entertainment | Release Date: September 1, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
6
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
89
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiAug 31, 2023
Much as he did with his 2016 feature debut (at the age of 23), the love-triangle drama As You Are, Joris-Peyrafitte tells this story with welcome subtlety and a keen attenuation to his actors. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 28, 2023
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 full review
63
ObserverRex ReedSep 1, 2023
Not a bad film, just a dull and inconsequential one. here today and gone tomorrow. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshSep 1, 2023
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 full review
50
RogerEbert.comKatie RifeSep 1, 2023
As it is, The Good Mother starts with a gunshot and ends with a whimper. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 31, 2023
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 full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 30, 2023
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. This comes as a disappointment, at least for viewers who have watched a movie or two before. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 30, 2023
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 full review
40
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonSep 1, 2023
Though The Good Mother contains great talent like Hilary Swank and Olivia Cooke, the predictable formula holds it back from saying something meaningful. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 7, 2023
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 full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonAug 30, 2023
It seems Joris-Peyrafitte can’t decide what film he is making, and as a result we’re left with a jumbled mess with a slapped-together resolution that will satisfy no one. Read full review
15
ABC NewsPeter TraversSep 1, 2023
Hilary Swank looks like she’d rather be anywhere else than starring as a journalist and grief-stricken mother in this overblown, undercooked drug drama about America’s opioid crisis that makes its scant running time of 89 minutes feel like a torturous eternity. Read full review
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