What do you get when you mix two Academy Award-winning actresses and a celebrated cinematographer in his directorial debut? In the case of this piece, the answer is Mothers’ Instinct, a film directed by famed cinematographer Benoît Delhomme and starring the powerhouse duo of Jessica Chastain (The Help) and Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada). Despite bringing in a humble sum of $3.4 million during its cinematic run over the summer, the film is enjoying some well-deserved viewership thanks to its recent addition to Hulu, where it’s leading the charge on the platform’s Top 15 in the #1 spot.
Serving as a remake of both Olivier Masset-Depasse’s French-language film and the 2012 novel by Barbara Abel, Mothers’ Instinct wraps audiences up in everything 1960s American suburbia and introduces them to two housewives and best friends. Along with being besties, Alice (Chastain) and Céline (Hathaway) are also next-door neighbors and are caring and dutiful mothers to two young boys of the same age.
When the latter’s son, Max (Baylen D. Bielitz), tragically loses his life in an accident, Céline communes with her grief by developing a closer relationship with Alice’s son, Theo (Eamon O’Connell). Trying to understand the heavy and dark emotions that her close friend is going through, Alice does everything she can to accept Céline’s increasingly mothering actions, but when things take a sinister turn, she finds herself in a difficult position. Joining the leading ladies in supporting roles are Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person in the World) as Alice’s husband, Simon, and Josh Charles (The Good Wife) as Céline’s husband, Damian.
What Critics Had To Say About ‘Mothers’ Instinct’
On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie fell below the expectations of critics, landing a not-so-terrific 52% critics’ rating. Still, others like Collider’s Emma Kiely found something to enjoy from the movie, with Kiely giving the film a 6/10, writing:
“It’s an entertaining drama with strong acting but a disappointing and predictable twist in the third act that renders all the human drama up until then pointless. The biggest sin of the film is that it’s fairly forgettable both in the grand scheme of cinema as well as its respective stars’ filmographies.”
For now, Mothers’ Instinct is cleaning house over at Hulu, where it’s going toe-to-toe with other highly-streamable titles including John Wick, The Twilight Saga, and Amber Alert. Head over to the platform now to welcome the two Oscar-winning stars into your home today.
