The Reel Review
Alice and Celine, two women with successful husbands and sons of the same age, live a fairytale life as best friends and next-door neighbors in 1960 suburban America. But when a terrible tragedy occurs, guilt, suspicion and paranoia unravel their sisterly bond. Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway star in this English-language remake of the 2018 Belgian psychological thriller adapted from Barbara Abel’s 2012 novel, “Derriere La Haine.”
Mental illness plays a big role in this period melodrama, and Oscar winners Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) and Hathaway (Les Miserables) certainly elevate the film with strong, scene-chewing performances and on point costuming, as does Caroline Lagerfelt (Gossip Girl) as Alice’s bitchy mother-in-law. But the story is just so outlandish and takes itself so seriously that it strains the bounds of believability. A campier take, a la Diabolique, could have made this dry psychodrama an instant cult classic.
Cinematographer Benoit Delhomme’s directorial debut is solid enough, boosted by his fine attention to period visuals reminiscent of his work on The Theory of Everything and The Talented Mr. Ripley. It’s just a shame the screenplay from Sarah Conradt (Here After) is so dull and lifeless, at least until the totally off-the-rails third act. If there is a message to this odd film (the dangers of uptight, 1960s social malaise?), it is lost in translation. But hey, everyone looks great losing their minds.
REEL FACTS
• Initially the director of the award-winning Belgian version, Olivier Masset-Depasse, was going to direct but left the project due to a family commitment.
• This is the third movie starring Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, after Interstellar and Armageddon Time, but the first in which they appear together.
• Mothers’ Instinct was filmed in 24 days in Union County, New Jersey.
Video & Photo
