X
  • 2021
  • R
  • Sony Pictures Classics
  • 1 h 44 m
  • 2021
  • R
  • Sony Pictures Classics
  • 1 h 44 m

Summary On a warm spring day in 1924, house maid and foundling Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) finds herself alone on Mother’s Day. Her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Niven (Colin Firth and Olivia Colman), are out and she has the rare chance to spend quality time with her secret lover. Paul (Josh O’Connor) is the boy from the manor house nearby, Jane’s l...

Directed By: Eva Husson

Written By: Alice Birch, Graham Swift

  • 2021
  • R
  • Sony Pictures Classics
  • 1 h 44 m
  • 2021
  • R
  • Sony Pictures Classics
  • 1 h 44 m
Mothering Sunday
Metascore Generally favorable Based on 30 Critic Reviews
66
User Score Generally favorable Based on 15 User Ratings
6.9
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary On a warm spring day in 1924, house maid and foundling Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) finds herself alone on Mother’s Day. Her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Niven (Colin Firth and Olivia Colman), are out and she has the rare chance to spend quality time with her secret lover. Paul (Josh O’Connor) is the boy from the manor house nearby, Jane’s l...

Directed By: Eva Husson

Written By: Alice Birch, Graham Swift

Where to Watch

Top Cast

View All
View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally favorable Based on 30 Critic Reviews
66
60% Positive
18 Reviews
40% Mixed
12 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally favorable Based on 30 Critic Reviews
66
60% Positive
18 Reviews
40% Mixed
12 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Apr 11, 2022
Mothering Sunday, which unfolds on one day in the 1920s English countryside, is an exquisite expression of the female gaze that sifts through the memories, reveries, and revelations of a writer and explores—in a story that captures “the whole feeling of life,” as one character puts it— how she became one.
FULL REVIEW
80
Apr 6, 2022
Triumphantly, Young’s work with her ever-changing (and aging) character succeeds in bringing a complicated and resilient character to life.
By Anne T. Donahue FULL REVIEW
75
Mar 23, 2022
While countered by a throughline which is a bit on-the-nose—that loss comes for us all, and that what matters is how we choose to live with it—Mothering Sunday still succeeds as a moving, beautifully crafted and sensual period picture.
By Brianna Zigler FULL REVIEW
63
Mar 25, 2022
On an intuitive, sensual level, “Mothering Sunday” is intoxicating. As a story with plot and characters, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.
FULL REVIEW
60
Mar 24, 2022
The picture is a bit arty and decorous; it could do with fewer swimmy camera moves. But Young vests it with a fascinating, flinty grace.
By Stephanie Zacharek FULL REVIEW
60
Jul 10, 2021
It never quite comes together — the decades-spanning connective tissue somehow feels both overstated and thin — but Husson’s skill with actors, among them Colin Firth, Olivia Colman, Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù and the great Glenda Jackson, yields undeniable dividends.
By Justin Chang FULL REVIEW
40
Nov 22, 2021
There is pain worth immortalising in the stories of the past, and endless sadness found in a lonely woman’s quiet existence. Yet Mothering Sunday fails to look beyond what the outside world can see, in order to really excavate a truth to be remembered once the holiday has passed.
By Ella Kemp FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

 View All
Production Company British Film Institute (BFI), Film4, Lipsync Productions, Number 9 Films, ZDF/Arte
Release Date Nov 19, 2021
Duration 1 h 44 m
Rating R
Genres
Website https://www.sonyclassics.com/film/motheringsunday/
View All Details

Awards

Cinéfest Sudbury
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
• 1 Nomination
London Critics Circle Film Awards
• 1 Nomination

Related Movies

Dekalog (1988)

100
Universal acclaim

The Conformist

100
Universal acclaim

Sweet Smell of Success (re-release)

100
Universal acclaim

The Leopard (re-release)

100
Universal acclaim

The Godfather

100
Universal acclaim

Voyage to Italy (re-release)

100
Universal acclaim

Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)

100
Universal acclaim

Three Colors: Red

100
Universal acclaim

Fanny and Alexander (re-release)

100
Universal acclaim

Lawrence of Arabia (re-release)

100
Universal acclaim

Tokyo Story

100
Universal acclaim

Best Kept Secret

100
Universal acclaim

Citizen Kane

100
Universal acclaim

Boyhood

100
Universal acclaim

Casablanca

100
Universal acclaim

Notorious

100
Universal acclaim

Army of Shadows

99
Universal acclaim

Intolerance

99
Universal acclaim

City Lights

99
Universal acclaim

Moonlight

99
Universal acclaim

The Rules of the Game

99
Universal acclaim

Touch of Evil

99
Universal acclaim

Related News

Director Roxanne Benjamin Gender-Flips Gaslighting and Parental Tropes in Horror Film 'There's Something Wrong With the Children'

Director Roxanne Benjamin Gender-Flips Gaslighting and Parental Tropes in Horror Film 'There's Something Wrong With the Children'

Danielle Turchiano

'To me, [the film] was more about the idea of family and what it's supposed to look like,' the director tells Metacritic. 'You might have to fight against that continually until you die.'

  • movies
2023 Critics Choice Awards Winners: From 'Better Call Saul' to 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'

2023 Critics Choice Awards Winners: From 'Better Call Saul' to 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'

Danielle Turchiano

Find out who took home trophies at the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards.

  • movies
With 'The Drop,' Director Sarah Adina Smith Has Made Her Most Personal Movie Yet — And in a Genre She Never Expected to Work In

With 'The Drop,' Director Sarah Adina Smith Has Made Her Most Personal Movie Yet — And in a Genre She Never Expected to Work In

Sam Rosenberg

The comedy was born out of a conversation between Smith and her DP husband Shaheen Seth about the female equivalent of the protagonist's bad action in 'Force Majeure.'

  • movies
2023 DGA Awards Theatrical Nominations: From Steven Spielberg to John Patton Ford

2023 DGA Awards Theatrical Nominations: From Steven Spielberg to John Patton Ford

Danielle Turchiano

Find out who was nominated for theatrical film DGA Awards in 2023.

  • movies
2023 SAG Awards Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and 'Ozark' Score Big, 'The White Lotus' Switches Categories

2023 SAG Awards Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and 'Ozark' Score Big, 'The White Lotus' Switches Categories

Danielle Turchiano

Find out which actors from film and television earned Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations at the 29th annual celebration.

  • movies