Originally published by Elle
For a long time after my mom died, there were certain movies I couldn’t watch—not because I didn’t love them, but because they were too familiar, too recognizable, too precise. A mother and daughter arguing in a kitchen could undo me faster than any hospital scene. Movies compress motherhood into small gestures: a look across the table, a warning disguised as love, or a goodbye that lingers one beat too long. And sometimes those moments land harder than even our own memories.
As Mother’s Day approaches this year, I’ve thought a lot about the kinds of mothers presented to us in film, and the way these characters teach us how to understand, relate to, process, and even better appreciate the real-life maternal figures in our lives. Too often, Mother’s Day flattens motherhood into something singular and sentimental: brunch reservations, greeting cards, gratitude packaged neatly for mass commercial appeal. But motherhood is much better represented—and celebrated—through stories. As I mourned the loss of my own mother and eventually became a mother myself, I’ve found comfort in films that have reflected maternal figures in all their complexity: joyful, suffocating, aspirational, messy, protective and, at times, devastating.
The mothers we remember most on screen tend to feel uncannily real. InWild, I saw how grief can keep a mother present long after she’s gone. InLady Bird, I recognized how often love between mothers and daughters can sound like criticism before we’re old enough to hear it differently.
I often think about a line the late, great Catherine O’Hara once said about her life and career as an actress, one who has played plenty of memorable mothers, such asHome Alone’s Kate McCallister orSchitt’s Creek’s Moira Rose. O’Hara was once asked what role she most hoped to be remembered for. Her answer was simple: “Mother of my children.”
It’s an answer that says a lot. The roles many audiences associate O’Hara with and the role she valued most in her own life share a meaningful overlap. Maybe that’s why her characters stay with us—they feel intimate, real, and thus deeply familiar.
There is no one “right” way to celebrate Mother’s Day, just as there is no one way to be a mother or a mother figure. Movies have always understood this better than the holiday itself. If this Sunday finds you wanting to immerse yourself in a good film—enjoying the company of the mothers who populate it—here are a few places to start.
Susan Sarandon’s Marmee embodies an idealized but no less realistic mother—patient, principled, and endlessly steady, the kind of mother many of us grew up believing in. The film earned three Academy Award nominations and remains one of the most beloved adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s novel because it treats domestic life as something every bit as sweeping as an epic.
Laurie Metcalf’s Marion and Saoirse Ronan’s “Lady Bird” McPherson capture the complicated mother-daughter bond, in which love often shows up disguised as criticism. Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated coming-of-age film became a near-instant classic in the late 2010s, in part thanks to how well it understands the ways mothers and daughters can wound each other even whilst fighting desperately to care for each other.
Black Panther (2018)
Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda is powerful matriarch, a mother whose strength steadies both her family and her nation.Black Pantherbecame the first superhero film nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and received seven Oscar nominations overall, marking a historic milestone for comic book cinema. It has since become known as one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most emotionally resonant films.
As the iconic “Dancing Queen” Donna, Meryl Streep represents a gleefully free-spirited mother, reckoning with her own past as she watches her daughter become an equally free-spirited, independent young woman. Messy, radiant, and stubbornly independent, Donna is flawed—but it is her love for Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) that always shines through. Set on a picturesque Greek island and powered by an ABBA soundtrack,Mamma Mia!continues to be one of the most joyful movie musicals ever made.
Based onWildby Cheryl Strayed, this film follows a grieving woman (Reese Witherspoon) hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in the wake of her mother’s death. In flashback scenes, Laura Dern portrays this mother, remembered most keenly through the imprint she leaves behind. The film earned Dern a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and remains a deeply moving portrait of grief, healing, and maternal memory.
The Sound of Music (1965)
One of Julie Andrews’s most beloved roles is, of course, Maria, the governess-turned-surrogate mother at the heart of Rodgers and Hammerstein’sThe Sound of Music. Arriving in the von Trapp household as a nun, Maria soon becomes the family’s emotional center, and sees them through a period of immense grief and upheaval. The five-time Oscar-winning musical, which took home Best Picture, remains endlessly re-watchable—and yes, the soundtrack still holds up.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
As Evelyn Quan Wang, Michelle Yeoh brilliantly depicts a Chinese-American immigrant mother who struggles to connect with her daughter, Joy—and this generational chasm between them soon manifests as multiversal chaos. Winning seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, the genre-bending science-fiction and action film is, in fact, a deceptively intimate story about mothers and their love for their children.
Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
Diane Keaton plays a mother rediscovering herself in this early-aughts romantic comedy, which proves a woman’s story doesn’t end with motherhood—it simply opens another chapter. Nancy Meyers’s cozy coastal interiors and razor-sharp dialogue, as well as Keaton’s Oscar-nominated performance, makeSomething’s Gotta Givea comfort-watch classic.
Stepmombecame a late ’90s tearjerker staple for a reason, pairing two powerhouse performances with the kind of emotional ending that viewers debate and discuss to this day. As Isabel Kelly and Jackie Harrison, Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon portray a vignette of shared motherhood as their characters navigate divorce, illness, blended families, and what it means to love children in different ways.
María Cecilia Botero and Olga Merediz voice the matriarch at the center of Disney’s animated filmEncanto—a grandmother holding her family together with equal parts love and pressure.Encantobecame a global phenomenon thanks to its unforgettable music while also offering one of Disney’s most nuanced portrayals of generational trauma.
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Joan Crawford’s titular Mildred embodies a self-sacrificial mother, building an entire life around giving her daughter opportunities she never had. Crawford’s performance won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and the film continues to be one of classic Hollywood’s most devastating portraits of maternal devotion.
Almost Famous (2000)
In Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical rock film, Frances McDormand plays protective mother Elaine Miller, desperately trying to keep her son safe while knowing she can’t stop him from growing up. The film won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and is widely considered one of the best coming-of-age pictures ever made.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (2023)
This long-awaited adaptation of Judy Blume’s novelAre You There God? It’s Me, Margaretwas widely praised for honoring the beloved classic while giving mothers their own nuanced storyline. In the 2023 film, Rachel McAdams stars as a mother doing everything she can to “get it right,” balancing support, independence, and the challenge of letting her daughter become herself.
Freaky Friday (2003)
Played by Jamie Lee Curtis, Tess Coleman is a mother who just doesn’t “get it”—or so her teenage daughter, Anna (Lindsay Lohan), believes. That all changes when a body swap forces mother and daughter to live in each other’s lives.Freaky Fridaybecame a millennial favorite by turning a wildly fun premise into a surprisingly heartfelt lesson in empathy. The film further proved its staying power with last year’s sequel,Freakier Friday.
A Thousand and One (2023)
As Inez de la Paz, Teyana Taylor portrays a single mother determined to build a stable life for her son after kidnapping him from foster care and raising him in New York City against impossible odds.A Thousand and Onewon the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and became one of the most powerful recent portrayals of motherhood, sacrifice, and survival.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Toni Collette portrays Sheryl Hoover, a mother trying to hold her chaotic family together while supporting her daughter’s big pageant dreams. The indie hit won two Academy Awards and serves as a reminder that family dysfunction can also be both funny and deeply endearing.
Charlize Theron stars as Marlo Moreau, a mother of three, who befriends her night nanny, Tully (Mackenzie Davis), as she attempts to shoulder the invisible labor, exhaustion, and identity loss that can accompany early motherhood. Written by Diablo Cody,Tullyis a deeply honest portrayal of postpartum struggle—and the kind of film that can make adult children look back and appreciate how much their own mothers might have been carrying.
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