EDMONTON -- With everyone still in lockdown, there are many out there who weren't able to spend Mother’s Day with their moms or daughters “in person."

So whether you can snuggle up on the couch together, or have an online watch party over Zoom, here are some choices for some post-Mother’s Day flicks that shine the spotlight on some pretty amazing moms…for better or worse!

BAD MOMS

Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn are a comedic dream team, in this very raunchy, but extremely funny comedy about a group of over-stressed moms who throw caution to the wind and go on a wild binge. Perhaps a sneak preview of what we’ll ALL be like once this wretched quarantine ends!! Available on Netflix

 

BECOMING

America’s favourite mom, Michelle Obama, is the subject of this highly-anticipated documentary that dropped on Netflix this week – just in time for Mother’s Day! Available on Netflix.

BOOK CLUB

Not so much a movie about motherhood, as it is a great movie to watch WITH your mom. Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen light up the screen, in a comedy that’s just spicy enough to make your mom feel a little subversive! Available on Netflix.

 

THE GUILT TRIP

A great comedy to watch with mom, as Seth Rogen teams up with the legendary Barbara Streisand, for the ultimate mother/son road trip comedy! Lots of big laughs in this one. Available on Amazon Prime

I, TONYA

On the absolute other end of the mom spectrum, Allison Janney is absolutely spectacular as the ultimate stage mom from Hell! Margot Robbie is great here as the embattled figure skater, Tonya Harding, but this is Janney’s show, all the way. Available on Netflix

 

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

A Golden Globe Winner and Oscar nominee for Best Picture & Best Actress, Lisa Cholodenko’s fantastic comedy gives us a portrait of a same sex couple whose kids invite their biological father into their lives. Funny, warm, and real, this is the kind of “family values” movie I can really get behind! Available on Crave.

 

LADY BIRD

One of my favourite movies of the 2010’s, Greta Gerwig’s multiple Golden Globe winning comedy is truly one of the great mother/daughter movies of the last 20 years. Featuring fantastic performances by Sairose Ronan and Laurie Metcalf, this is a must-see. Apple TV+ 

PANIC ROOM

A mother and daughter (played by the great Jodie Foster and a young Kristen Stewart!) are trapped inside their own home when thieves break in. Exactly the sort if white-knuckle experience you’d expect from the director of SEVEN. Available on Netflix. 

A QUIET PLACE

If you really want a different kind of Mother’s Day experience, especially if mom is a fan of thrillers, check out John Krasinski’s nerve-shredding thriller, with Emily Blunt as a mother who will do anything to protect her children! The sequel was “supposed to” come out last month…before COVID put a halt to that, so what better time to revisit the original! Available on Netflix.

RBG

This documentary about the incomparable Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg proves not only to be a surprisingly intimate look at her life as a loving wife and mother, it’s also funny, inspiring, and powerful. This is a great choice for the whole family to watch together, and discuss afterwards. Available on CRAVE

 

RICKI & THE FLASH

There are a LOT of Meryl Streep titles that could have made this list, from Sophie’s Choice, to Mamma Mia, to the great Postcards from the Edge, but instead, I wanted to recommend a more recent one that really flew under the radar. Here, she stars alongside her real-life daughter, Mamie Gummer, in the story of a rocker who neglected her family, in pursuit of fame as a musician. Available on Netflix. 

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

When all else fails, you can NOT go wrong with the granddaddy (grandmommy??) of Mother’s Day classics: Terms of Endearment. Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine are the ultimate mother/daughter duo – complete with all the messiness that comes along with any close relationship.

Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning FIVE – including Best Picture, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor for Jack Nicholson, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. An absolute classic, and the perfect movie to watch with your mom this weekend. But be sure to have plenty of Kleenex on hand! 

Catch Guy Lavallee on Twitter @therealmovieguy