Being a mother is about so much more than giving birth to a child. Mothers are the people that raise us, shape us, teach us right from wrong and love us unconditionally, even when we make it hard to do so. This weekend, as we celebrate our mums and those that take on that motherly role, the mothers in SBS On Demand’s All The Mums collection remind us that even in the toughest of times, the special women in our lives will always be there.
Lion
It’s often said that one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of being a mum is giving your child the freedom to discover who they are, but what happens when that involves searching for their birth mother?
Academy Award-nominated film Lion tells the incredible true story of Saroo Brierley (Dev Patel) who, 25 years after he was adopted from an orphanage in Kolkata by Tasmanian couple Sue and John Brierley (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham), sets out to find the family he hasn’t seen since the age of five. Though Saroo’s search is largely the focus of the film, it is his conversation with his mother Sue just prior that is especially moving. She reveals to Saroo that her decision to adopt him was very much a choice, not a last resort as he had assumed, and despite the challenges that have come their way, she is glad he is her son. As Saroo sets out to piece together his past, it is Sue making room for another mother to love her son that is her greatest gift to him on his journey.
Lion is streaming now at SBS On Demand:
The Family Law
Ask any teenager and they’ll tell you mums are just straight up embarrassing, and The Family Law’s fourteen-year-old protagonist, Ben Law (Trystan Go) is no different. The acclaimed comedy-drama series, based loosely on Law’s popular 2010 memoir of the same name, follows his almost functional Chinese–Australian family of seven over a long Queensland summer, and Ben’s mother Jenny (Fiona Choi) is its heart and soul. She also happens to be solely responsible for much of his embarrassment. “I’m the mummy wallaby, and you can all be my baby wallabies because you come from my big, furry… pouch.” Cue facepalm.
The recent breakdown of her marriage has done nothing to improve Jenny’s lack of filter, much to Ben’s dismay, but there is no denying the complete love she has for her children. And they love her in return. It’s this love that drives Ben’s attempts to keep his family together and help his mum find her confidence again over three heartwarming and hilarious seasons.
All three seasons of The Family Law are streaming at SBS On Demand:
Fried Green Tomatoes
Not all maternal figures are part of our lives from the very beginning. In fact, many belong to our chosen family, women we meet along the way that come to fundamentally shape who we are, often without ever really understanding the impact they have on our lives.
For forty-year-old housewife Evelyn (Kathy Bates) in Jon Avnet’s Fried Green Tomatoes, that person is the vibrant Ninny (Jessica Tandy), an elderly lady living in the local nursing home, whose stories provide a much needed reprieve from the realities of an unhappy marriage and deep dissatisfaction with her life. As Evelyn listens to Ninny each week while visiting her husband’s aunt, she is captivated by her tales of Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker) and Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson), the trailblazing female duo who ran the Whistle Stop Cafe in the 1930s. Through Ninny’s stories of the pair, Evelyn finds the courage to rewrite her own, and learns of the unparalleled freedom that comes with living life authentically.
Fried Green Tomatoes is streaming now at SBS On Demand:
A Separation
One of the greatest sacrifices a mother can make is putting the wellbeing of her child above all else, and that is exactly what Simin (Leila Hatami) is prepared to do for her eleven-year-old daughter Termeh (Sarina Farad) in Asghar Farhadi’s Academy Award-winning Persian language film, A Separation.
Simin is determined to give her daughter whatever opportunities she can, even if it means leaving her homeland of Iran to do so, but her husband Nader (Peyman Moadi) is more reluctant, in no small part due to his father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Unable to agree, Simin is willing to file for divorce if it means she can proceed with her plan, and while Nader is happy to let his wife go if she chooses to, he refuses to allow Termeh to go with her. Just when it seems things couldn’t get any more complicated for the pair, the family’s world is turned upside down by an unexpected accusation of murder, and the fiercely protective love of two mothers is put to the test.
A Separation is streaming now at SBS On Demand:
Romy’s Salon
There’s nothing quite like a grandmother’s love. It’s quick to forget your mistakes, delights in your every accomplishment, and insists on feeding you even when you swear you couldn’t possibly manage another bite. For ten-year-old Romy in Dutch offering Romy’s Salon however, her relationship with her grandmother isn’t quite so straightforward.
When her parents separate, Romy (Vita Heijmen) is forced to spend every afternoon at Stine’s hair salon after school, a rare constant amidst the turbulence of her home life. Or, in Romy’s opinion, just plain boring. After all, the pair barely know each other, and Stine (Beppie Melissen) doesn’t seem that keen on having her granddaughter around either. As the days pass, however, Romy begins to notice that something isn’t quite right with her grandmother, and the little girl must intervene to keep the business running smoothly. Over time, the two come to realise that though change can bring sadness, without it, the special memories they create together may never have come to pass.
Romy’s Salon is streaming now at SBS On Demand:
Behold My Heart
When times get tough, mothers are often looked to for stability and comfort, but as indie film Behold My Heart reminds us, sometimes mums need someone to carry them, too. The unexpected death of her husband Steven (Timothy Olyphant) sends Margaret Lang (Marisa Tomei) to rock bottom, leaving her unable to support her teenage son Marcus (Charlie Plummer) as he navigates his own grief.
With his mum continuing to push the self-destruct button, Marcus is forced to find a strength beyond his years and take care of her, all while trying to hold on to some semblance of a normal sixteen-year-old life. When it understandably becomes too much to handle, he escapes into the woods, determined to leave the pain of his home life behind. Even in the depths of her despair, Marcus’ absence reminds Margaret that their unbreakable bond endures, and she sets out immediately to find him, in hopes of rebuilding their relationship and rediscovering the courage to be his mother once again.
Behold My Heart is streaming now at SBS On Demand:
Egg
There are many paths to motherhood, but whichever path one chooses, they won’t have to look far to find someone who is taking an entirely different approach. Such is the case for Karen (Christina Hendricks) and Tina (Alysia Reiner) in Marianna Palka’s satirical comedy Egg, art school ‘best friends’ with vastly different ideas about the process of becoming a mum.
Reunited for a dinner with their respective partners, the evening takes a turn when Karen arrives eight months pregnant. Tina wastes no time announcing that she and her husband Wayne (Gbenga Akinnagbe) are also expecting, but have decided to go the surrogacy route with the help of surrogate Kiki (Anna Camp). “If government and businesses are going to devalue women’s work and make motherhood economically unfeasible, why not outsource it?” Tina asks. It’s a valid point, but it’s one Karen can’t quite understand, especially in her current condition, and so begins a night of insecurity, revelation and raw honesty as each attempts to justify their very different approaches to having a baby.
Egg is streaming now at SBS On Demand:
See all these and more in the All The Mums collection at , which also includes the heartwarming documentary , three seasons of the German 1950s+ drama and more films exploring the various roles mothers play.
