Mother Couch, 2024.
Written and Directed by Niclas Larsson.
Starring Ewan McGregor, Rhys Ifans, Taylor Russell, Lara Flynn Boyle, Lake Bell, F. Murray Abraham, Ellen Burstyn, Mar’Ques Woolford, Penelope Young, and Ozzy Davidson.
SYNOPSIS:
Three children are brought together when their mother refuses to move from a couch in a furniture store.
There is an ominous mood throughout writer/director Niclas Larsson’s Mother Couch (based on Jerker Virdborg’s book Mamma i soffa), bordering on surrealism. Three estranged siblings find themselves reunited with their mother inside a furniture store, except the establishment resembles homes within homes more than anything, also functioning as an Airbnb. The unnamed matriarch (Ellen Burstyn) has sat down on a couch and refuses to move. Rather than call the authorities, store manager Bella (Taylor Russell) is awaiting Ewan McGregor’s David, his brother Gruffudd (Rhys Ifans), and sister Linda (Lara Flynn Boyle) to arrive, figure out why she doesn’t want to move and resolve the situation peacefully.
Expectedly, some family secrets will be revealed. David even assumes that this could be a ploy to bring the family together for once since their mom had conceived each child with a different father and abandoned them all. He also grows irritated with his older sister for encouraging him to call 911 (something most viewers will likely be thinking), which she refuses to do and throws back in her face as her way of handling every problem. There is also an absurd turn of events when, understandably, someone tries to remove her from the couch forcefully. Meanwhile, the spunky Griffud also has little patience.
Intriguingly, Mother is forward that the siblings aren’t really a family but merely the by-product of three men she slept with from different countries. It’s a fascinating, strained dynamic that mostly goes to waste. There is also a juxtaposition here in that David isn’t necessarily the most attentive parent and perhaps even prone to adultery; when staying overnight and asked by Bella if he wants to take a shower, his response is creepy: “Together?” The scenes of him failing as a father and forgetting to pick up his daughter to spend the day at the beach feel conveniently forced, with whatever is brewing between him and Bella (who is impressively observant of his situation) going nowhere.
David’s mother also gave him a key that unlocks an unknown dresser that could have some answers. Intentionally, none of this comes across naturally—aside from a stressed and hurt performance from Ewan McGregor—but rather eerily. As the film reaches some answers and its climax, things become abstract and bonkers. In theory, that sounds intriguing, but Mother Couch plays more like a pleasantly odd experimental exercise, except that Niclas Larsson hasn’t quite figured out a purpose. Some of the film’s metaphorical imagery is also painfully on-the-nose, such as a knife stuck in one character’s back.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the bizarre Mother Couch works best when it simply allows Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn to act alongside one another and make their cases for the lives they have led. As a mood piece, it’s enough to sustain interest, especially alongside a recognizably solid ensemble, but lacks substance that is possibly more present in the novel.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
Originally published July 2, 2024. Updated July 3, 2024.
