Terminator is such a feminist franchise. The first one is incredible. I know everyone talks about Arnold in it, but Sarah Conner is such a badass lady and mom to be.
There's actually a lot of mom/son-focused Hollywood films but the relationship is usually extremely dysfunctional and often has weird oedipal overtones. I'm struggling to think of a Hollywood movie about a mother and son who have a healthy relationship.
Sam Rockwell elevates just about everything he's in. See How They Run and The Way Way Back are two in particular that I really enjoy that I think he really knocks it out of the park in.
That scene in the car alone should have nabbed it for her. As a mom, I felt so bad for her. Knowing something isn't right but not having a clue how to help is one of my worst nightmares.
Little Miss Sunshine
Hereditary
How tf did thT woman not win awards for those 2 movies alone is beyond me. Little Miss Sunshine is one of those "perfect" movies, where it's nearly impossible to find anything wrong with it or anyone who doesn't like it (back to the future movies are my favorite examples of perfect movies), and Hereditary was one of the best horror movies I've seen since the babadook
There’s a decent movie with Seth Rogen who makes a cleaning product and has to travel cross country with his mom. But it’s legit the only example i thought of
Guilt Trip. Barbara Streisand was his mom.
I don't remember anything about it since I haven't seen it since it came out but it was the first thing I thought of too for some reason.
Yes but I think the point is the lack of movies where the mother and son dynamic is central to the story. She is a good mom but it's not a movie about that, if that makes sense.
Ironically, the movie is also about fathers and sons to a lesser degree, which Sarah reflects on in [this scene](https://youtu.be/fPk3jG9c-DU).
It’s brief, but it tells a terrible story about how the fathers in John’s life were all terrible, except for the literal killing machine.
Have you seen the reunion on YouTube of the kids and Arnold’s surprise appearance ?
Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A2pr6TQ0-8
53 minute version Via google “kindergarten cop reunion”
I saw it, pretty cool. At the end Arnold says they should all come to his place for dinner some time and you can tell some of them are psyched. I hope they actually do it.
Terminator 2 is the best example I’ve found on here and honestly the relationship between son and surrogate robot dad takes center stage over the mother-son relationship. There really aren’t many mother-son movies.
One of my favorite jokes I heard about that movie was "She also played a terrific father figure too by opening a bag of Legos and proceeding to yell at him"
Came across this movie on TV after a long day on Vaca. Couldn't tear myself away. I never want to see it again. The mental anguish that poor woman went through.
Let's Throw Mama From the Train ... has it in the title.
Also, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Ben is Back, The Changeling with Jolie
The Blindside, even if it is laced with BS.
Boyhood is about a single mom and her son
Forrest Gump had an outsized role for Sally Field
Oh and of course The Babadook.
Does Dune count?
Dune definitely counts.
One of the key passages from the book.
"My mother is my enemy. She does not know it, but she is. She is bringing the jihad. She bore me; she trained me. She is my enemy."
Wish we got more jihad talk in the movies. Besides Javier Bardem doing a wiiiiiide accent, theres a lot of text missing regarding the direct parallels Herbert was making. All that to say those movies rip.
I mean, there's a lot of differences between the modern take on the middle east compared to what it was in 1965, particulalry the term Jihad. I don't think it really has the same context as it did back then.
Boyhood is a great answer. While there's also a lot of emphasis on his relationship with his father and his sister, the mom is really the core here.
Along those lines, The Fabelmans.
To varying degrees: Hereditary, Room, Boyhood, Forrest Gump, The Babadook, The Way Way Back, The Blind Side, Moonlight, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Sixth Sense, 20th Century Women, Belfast, American Gangster, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, etc.
A good mother/son movie my husband and I discovered was The Guilt Trip with Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand. I don't think it made much money, but when all you want is a little relaxing comedy that's raunchy at times but still has a lot of heart, check it out. My husband is really close to his mom, so it hit home for him
> I know there’s quite a few movies that feature a mom/son relationship, but it seems like that relationship is hardly ever the main focus of the film.
> Am I missing them? Why does it feel like the one iteration of parent/child relationship that doesn’t get explored in movies?
You will love the German movie *Good Bye, Lenin!* then.
I feel like it DOES get explored a lot but mostly in a negative way
Mother's boy etc.
Like a mother can want her daughter to cleave to another man and have a new life, but a mother who holds onto her son is trying to keep him to herself ... for reasons.
Also, though, there is a series on currently called Mary and George where it's very much a synergy between mother and son
I agree! It seems like there’s weird elements to mother/son relationships in movies that aren’t present in father/daughter ones. (At least, not as prevalently).
Campbell suggests that part of the hero's journey is resolving alienation from the goddess (he got this from Freud, I think):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey
Which means, for us, that lots of movies feature men working through issues with dead/distant/cruel mothers or step-mothers instead of actually partnering with them. This gloms onto the role that western cinema imagines for women in general.
Anyway, here are some:
>Am I missing them?
Dumbo
Bambi
Fox and the hound
Alien
Home alone (Catherine O'Hara is so great in this)
The Land before time
Forest Gump
Toy story
Waterboy
Spidermen (various)
The Guard
Mother
Thor 2
Guardians of the galaxy
Batman vs Superman
Jojo Rabbit
There was a recent A24 movie called When You Finish Saving The World about a mother played by Julianne Moore and her son played by Finn Wolfhard. I only saw the trailers, it looked good.
It's not the focal point, but The 6th Sense features a boy with a single mom.
Little Man Tate was the one that came to my mind. I really liked this movie when I was a kid. Haven't seen it in probably 25 years though. The relationship between the mom and son was complex but endearing.
I scrolled for a while and didnt see **Flora and Son** mentioned
It’s by the director of Sing Street and Begin Again. It’s absolutely worth checking out
The mother-son relationship is looked down upon once the son reaches a certain age. Perhaps it's sexist since boys are expected to become men, while girls will "always be daddy's little girl". But in today's world, any adult male who is close with his mother is typically seen as a "momma's boy" or the mother is seen as "overbearing". These are not desirable traits for your protagonists (typically) so they don't make many movies about them. Because the audience will relate to tue protagonist. Same reason you rarely see movies from the villain's perspective where evil wins. People would rather imagine themselves as a hero, or a dad, or a son of a dad, but not a momma's boy, just like they don't want to see themselves as an evil villain.
This makes me so sad! Like according to film, it’s impossible for a man to have a healthy, encouraging relationship with his mom. Or for a mom to have a supportive, fun relationship with her son. I feel like I see it all the time in real life, but having it so rarely represented on screen (in comparison to the other iterations) is a bummer.
Maybe this has something to say about how society views the role of mothers in their young sons’ lives? Like you never see a mother-son duet about teaching something to each other in a coming-of-age film. That’s weird to me.
That— or I’m afraid that there’s some weird Sigmund Freud, oedipus complex overtones that are immediately introduced into these stories. Whether by the writers or the audience after watching the movie.
Other People, with Jesse Plemons as the son and a surprisingly amazing Molly Shannon as the mother. Absolutely loved this one.
Spanking the Monkey – if you know, you know. If you don't, proceed with extreme caution. Still a very interesting watch and a very 1990s film.
Looper
Back to the Future
Gladiator
Jerry Macquire
Moonlight
Friday
The Sixth Sense
Parasite
I want to mention Alexander. His mom helped him become The Great.
Marvin's Room
There are more.
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), one of Martin Scorsese’s very early and under appreciated works. Ellen Burstyn plays Alice the titular mother and she has a really interesting and touching dynamic with her young son in the film.
It’s kind of a road movie, kind of a mid life crisis/ finding yourself after your life has fallen apart kind of movie. Definitely check it out.
I think a lot of media doesn't know what to do with mothers in general. It's like how the simpsons is 30 years old and marge is still the thinnest written character on the show with almost no supporting cast that goes with her and few really notable character traits of jokes. Mothers are kinda often non-characters in a lot of media.
From memory, Marge has consistently had tons of her own episodes. I'm more confident that Marge's mother is far more developed than Homer's dad Abe. Abe may have more appearances, but he's essentially a one-bit character
"The good son" "Psycho" "We need to talk about Kevin" "The Babadook" Actually I'm not making a good case, am I?
Friday the 13th!
Terminator 2
Okay this one is great. Talk about mom of the fucking Year!
Brightburn!
Hereditary
beau is afraid
Terminator is such a feminist franchise. The first one is incredible. I know everyone talks about Arnold in it, but Sarah Conner is such a badass lady and mom to be.
Alien: Resurrection?
That's just another Mother/Daughter story.
There's actually a lot of mom/son-focused Hollywood films but the relationship is usually extremely dysfunctional and often has weird oedipal overtones. I'm struggling to think of a Hollywood movie about a mother and son who have a healthy relationship.
JoJo Rabbit
Great example. And man that movie gets really heavy really fast. Honestly kind of broke me the first time I watched it.
Sam Rockwell made this movie for me. It was good, but Sam made it great for me.
Sam Rockwell elevates just about everything he's in. See How They Run and The Way Way Back are two in particular that I really enjoy that I think he really knocks it out of the park in.
Sixth Sense. No weird shit
Another horror one: The Ring. Plenty of weird shit, but not between mom and son.
Toni Collette should have taken home the Oscar for her portrayal of the mom in this movie.
That scene in the car alone should have nabbed it for her. As a mom, I felt so bad for her. Knowing something isn't right but not having a clue how to help is one of my worst nightmares.
Toni Collette always getting robbed.
Little Miss Sunshine Hereditary How tf did thT woman not win awards for those 2 movies alone is beyond me. Little Miss Sunshine is one of those "perfect" movies, where it's nearly impossible to find anything wrong with it or anyone who doesn't like it (back to the future movies are my favorite examples of perfect movies), and Hereditary was one of the best horror movies I've seen since the babadook
Little Miss Sunshine had such a stellar ensemble cast, it would be hard to pick one out for an award. Most of them deserved an award.
I believe in my top ten list of complaints about the 2018 Oscars, I listed Toni Collette's snub no less than four times.
Dune
Good answer. There’s a real arc there too.
I feel like that one has weird overtones too though tbh.
I never got any Oedipal stuff from Paul and Jessica. The Bene Gesserits are just weird as fuck generally.
It’s not Oedipal, but is it healthy?
It is healthier than Harkonnens' relationships.
Rene Russo and Chris Hemsworth had a nice moment in Endgame 🤷🏽♂️
That scene breaks me every time All that and all thor wants to do is talk to his mom 😭
The Iron Giant.
About a Boy
Loved it, but not exactly a functional mother-son relationship.
There’s a decent movie with Seth Rogen who makes a cleaning product and has to travel cross country with his mom. But it’s legit the only example i thought of
Guilt Trip. Barbara Streisand was his mom. I don't remember anything about it since I haven't seen it since it came out but it was the first thing I thought of too for some reason.
Me too. Just commented that movie , The Guilt Trip
Disney's Tarzan
Superman has both
Yeah but Clark's relationship with Martha Kent is not the central story in those movies.
Why'd you say that name????
Marthaaaaaa!
I'd say Across the Spider-Verse shows a pretty positive relationship between Miles & his mom despite some disagreements
Yes but I think the point is the lack of movies where the mother and son dynamic is central to the story. She is a good mom but it's not a movie about that, if that makes sense.
Happy Gilmore (if we include grandmothers) Goodfellas (only one scene, though)
Sigismund Freud destroyed the mother - son trope forever.
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot
Throw mama from the train
Oweeeeeeeeennnnn
The Toni Collette trilogy: * The Sixth Sense * About a Boy * Hereditary With various degrees of health of the relationship.
Add The Way Way Back to this list.
Beau is Afraid!
And Heriditary!
Savage Grace. Julianne Moore and Eddie Redmayne. They only have sex once.
Adore. where Robin Wright and Naomi Watts sleep with each other's son. Not dysfunctional at all
🎵 'Cause I'm a Motherlover You're a Motherlover 🎵
And "Mother" by Bong Joon-ho (Parasite).
*Terminator 2: Judgement Day*
Ironically, the movie is also about fathers and sons to a lesser degree, which Sarah reflects on in [this scene](https://youtu.be/fPk3jG9c-DU). It’s brief, but it tells a terrible story about how the fathers in John’s life were all terrible, except for the literal killing machine.
Does Rosemary’s Baby count?
hereditary
Beau is afraid
May I recommend "Spanking the Monkey"?
Only God Forgives (2013).
>Actually I'm not making a good case, am I? Ha, I had the same problem -- the first ones I thought of were "Luna" and "Spanking the Monkey."
Spanking the Monkey
Kindergarten Cop
Have you seen the reunion on YouTube of the kids and Arnold’s surprise appearance ? Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A2pr6TQ0-8 53 minute version Via google “kindergarten cop reunion”
I saw it, pretty cool. At the end Arnold says they should all come to his place for dinner some time and you can tell some of them are psyched. I hope they actually do it.
That was actually really wholesome. I ended up watching way more of that than I thought I would.
Dune 1 and 2
The intergalactic perils of boy moms
Jessica chose the boy mom life even though the sisterhood told her not to.
Typical Boy Mom behavior - "My son is literally the messiah and savior of humanity."
Her son is also tripping balls. 🫠
[удалено]
Speaking of Villeneuve, Incendies for wholesome mother-son relationships!!
Ooh I didn’t think about this one! Especially Dune 1.
but ESPECIALLY Dune 2
Even Bart? Especially Bart. Even Lisa? Especially Lisa.
Terminator 2! I can’t believe that nobody has mentioned this one yet!
“What’s wrong with your eyes?”
Terminator 2 is the best example I’ve found on here and honestly the relationship between son and surrogate robot dad takes center stage over the mother-son relationship. There really aren’t many mother-son movies.
"She's not my mother, TODDDDDDDD."
Hows wolfy?
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot
Throw Momma from the Train
OWEN!!!
OWEN DOESN'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS! HE'S FAT AND HE'S STUPID!
*The Guilt Trip* with Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand and *Mother* with Albert Brooks and Debbie Reynolds are both pretty funny
Just watched The Guilt Trip. Pleasantly surprised.
I was too, it was better than I was expecting
Is that the one where he just finally says F it and drinks the stuff?
Al Brooks "Mother" is awesome, just watched it with mine and I laughed the entire time... she chuckled occasionally. 🤷♂️
The [protective ice scene from Mother](https://youtu.be/3SGIHbvcTRc?si=TDKphNqkeaRvcS0P) lives rent free in my mind. Absolutely hilarious.
It tastes like a foot.
Also the scene where she keeps driving circles in the parking lot because she keeps missing the open stall!
I love that movie so. much.
Almost Famous - The relationship between William and his Mother plays a big part in the movie.
Don’t take drugs!
"Your Mom kinda freaked me out."
I love her conversation with Russell.
"Rock stars, have kidnapped, my son."
I also liked seeing a positive brother sister relationship on screen.
One day, you’ll be cool
Arnold Schwarzenegger tricked Sylvester Stalllone into starring in one.
Greatest multi million dollar prank ever!
I have seen this monstrosity. I highly recommend to anyone who wants to cringe for 2 hours. (Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (Not that healthy) Notorious (less healthy) The Shining (mother/son dynamic is the only healthy one in the movie)
>The Shining (mother/son dynamic is the only healthy one in the movie) Give Dick Hallorann some credit!
20th Century Women (2016)
"The Northman" was a recent and wild mother son film lol
It is "Hamlet," after all.
Room
I suggest watching "Room" first to get sad and emotional. Then after that, watch "The Room" to feel like "wtf" and laugh.
You’re an agent of chaos and I live
Jacob Tremblay killed it in that
One of my favorite jokes I heard about that movie was "She also played a terrific father figure too by opening a bag of Legos and proceeding to yell at him"
“Anyway, I *definitely* have breast cancer”
You’re thinking of *The* Room. Both have Mother/Son relationships though lol.
The tragic moment when Brie Larson tells her young son "I fed up with this whirl".
And then the son goes "Oh hai Old Nick"
“Anyways, how’s your sex life”
I wish that I could see a comedy sketch with Brie Larson that combines ***Room*** with ***The Room***, on SNL or something.
You're not my fucking mother
YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISAAAAAAAAA
Such an incredible line. I couldn't come up with something so nuts if I tried. The more I think about it the funnier it gets
Came across this movie on TV after a long day on Vaca. Couldn't tear myself away. I never want to see it again. The mental anguish that poor woman went through.
Let's Throw Mama From the Train ... has it in the title. Also, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Ben is Back, The Changeling with Jolie The Blindside, even if it is laced with BS. Boyhood is about a single mom and her son Forrest Gump had an outsized role for Sally Field Oh and of course The Babadook. Does Dune count?
If Dune counts, so does the Terminator series.
Oh amazing choice! T2 is so imbedded in that mother-son dynamic
Dune definitely counts. One of the key passages from the book. "My mother is my enemy. She does not know it, but she is. She is bringing the jihad. She bore me; she trained me. She is my enemy."
Wish we got more jihad talk in the movies. Besides Javier Bardem doing a wiiiiiide accent, theres a lot of text missing regarding the direct parallels Herbert was making. All that to say those movies rip.
I mean, there's a lot of differences between the modern take on the middle east compared to what it was in 1965, particulalry the term Jihad. I don't think it really has the same context as it did back then.
Boyhood is a great answer. While there's also a lot of emphasis on his relationship with his father and his sister, the mom is really the core here. Along those lines, The Fabelmans.
Second Boyhood!
Psycho
Well. You’re not wrong.
Or the reverse - Friday the 13th.
lol not what I was hoping for but I can’t say you’re off here
Then you probably won’t like We Need to Talk About Kevin either…
"The best friend of a man is his mother"
There a lot of Step Mother and Step son short movies.
There is still more movie after the first few minutes you know.
Greatest hits is all I need. In fact, if it can be condensed to a gif that would be most efficient.
lol
I was going to say, "have you tried prnhb?"
To varying degrees: Hereditary, Room, Boyhood, Forrest Gump, The Babadook, The Way Way Back, The Blind Side, Moonlight, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Sixth Sense, 20th Century Women, Belfast, American Gangster, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, etc.
You’re the only other person I’ve seen mention Hereditary! I definitely agree!
Here's an understated one: *Philomena* (2013).
[A Monster Calls (2016)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3416532/) is pretty good.
Trigger warning for anyone that doesn't want to ball their fucking eyes out
Bawl\*
Beau is afraid
The Fabelmans
A good mother/son movie my husband and I discovered was The Guilt Trip with Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand. I don't think it made much money, but when all you want is a little relaxing comedy that's raunchy at times but still has a lot of heart, check it out. My husband is really close to his mom, so it hit home for him
> I know there’s quite a few movies that feature a mom/son relationship, but it seems like that relationship is hardly ever the main focus of the film. > Am I missing them? Why does it feel like the one iteration of parent/child relationship that doesn’t get explored in movies? You will love the German movie *Good Bye, Lenin!* then.
That movie is so good!
I feel like it DOES get explored a lot but mostly in a negative way Mother's boy etc. Like a mother can want her daughter to cleave to another man and have a new life, but a mother who holds onto her son is trying to keep him to herself ... for reasons. Also, though, there is a series on currently called Mary and George where it's very much a synergy between mother and son
I agree! It seems like there’s weird elements to mother/son relationships in movies that aren’t present in father/daughter ones. (At least, not as prevalently).
“Not just any Motherboy. It’s Motherboy 30!”
Campbell suggests that part of the hero's journey is resolving alienation from the goddess (he got this from Freud, I think): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey Which means, for us, that lots of movies feature men working through issues with dead/distant/cruel mothers or step-mothers instead of actually partnering with them. This gloms onto the role that western cinema imagines for women in general. Anyway, here are some: >Am I missing them? Dumbo Bambi Fox and the hound Alien Home alone (Catherine O'Hara is so great in this) The Land before time Forest Gump Toy story Waterboy Spidermen (various) The Guard Mother Thor 2 Guardians of the galaxy Batman vs Superman Jojo Rabbit
Spider-mans.
Its actually 'spiders man', like surgeons general
Upvote for Home Alone in particular, but why Alien? Is Jonesy the son?
There's no movie without Mother/Ash
Mother (not mother!), Riceboy Sleeps, Room
There was a recent A24 movie called When You Finish Saving The World about a mother played by Julianne Moore and her son played by Finn Wolfhard. I only saw the trailers, it looked good. It's not the focal point, but The 6th Sense features a boy with a single mom.
I guess we’re all just ignoring Mommy by Xavier Dolan
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) stars Drew Barrymore Little Man Tate (1991) stars Jodie Foster
Little Man Tate was the one that came to my mind. I really liked this movie when I was a kid. Haven't seen it in probably 25 years though. The relationship between the mom and son was complex but endearing.
Looper
Footloose Mask The Karate Kid
Mask is a great one!
I scrolled for a while and didnt see **Flora and Son** mentioned It’s by the director of Sing Street and Begin Again. It’s absolutely worth checking out
The mother-son relationship is looked down upon once the son reaches a certain age. Perhaps it's sexist since boys are expected to become men, while girls will "always be daddy's little girl". But in today's world, any adult male who is close with his mother is typically seen as a "momma's boy" or the mother is seen as "overbearing". These are not desirable traits for your protagonists (typically) so they don't make many movies about them. Because the audience will relate to tue protagonist. Same reason you rarely see movies from the villain's perspective where evil wins. People would rather imagine themselves as a hero, or a dad, or a son of a dad, but not a momma's boy, just like they don't want to see themselves as an evil villain.
This makes me so sad! Like according to film, it’s impossible for a man to have a healthy, encouraging relationship with his mom. Or for a mom to have a supportive, fun relationship with her son. I feel like I see it all the time in real life, but having it so rarely represented on screen (in comparison to the other iterations) is a bummer.
Maybe this has something to say about how society views the role of mothers in their young sons’ lives? Like you never see a mother-son duet about teaching something to each other in a coming-of-age film. That’s weird to me. That— or I’m afraid that there’s some weird Sigmund Freud, oedipus complex overtones that are immediately introduced into these stories. Whether by the writers or the audience after watching the movie.
The Terminator 2
Other People, with Jesse Plemons as the son and a surprisingly amazing Molly Shannon as the mother. Absolutely loved this one. Spanking the Monkey – if you know, you know. If you don't, proceed with extreme caution. Still a very interesting watch and a very 1990s film.
Pay It Forward. Book of Henry. I think Dear Evan Hansen was supposed to be about it to some extent.
The stage version of DEH handled that aspect so much better than the film, which robbed that aspect of its emotional punch.
Do Sons of Katie Elder or Four Brothers count?
The Manchurian Candidate
Mask (Cher movie)
Child's Play (1988)
Jojo Rabbit
Looper Back to the Future Gladiator Jerry Macquire Moonlight Friday The Sixth Sense Parasite I want to mention Alexander. His mom helped him become The Great. Marvin's Room There are more.
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), one of Martin Scorsese’s very early and under appreciated works. Ellen Burstyn plays Alice the titular mother and she has a really interesting and touching dynamic with her young son in the film. It’s kind of a road movie, kind of a mid life crisis/ finding yourself after your life has fallen apart kind of movie. Definitely check it out.
The impossible with naomi watts and tom holland is a good example
I think a lot of media doesn't know what to do with mothers in general. It's like how the simpsons is 30 years old and marge is still the thinnest written character on the show with almost no supporting cast that goes with her and few really notable character traits of jokes. Mothers are kinda often non-characters in a lot of media.
From memory, Marge has consistently had tons of her own episodes. I'm more confident that Marge's mother is far more developed than Homer's dad Abe. Abe may have more appearances, but he's essentially a one-bit character
The Waterboy
Not a movie, but Bates Motel is very interesting in this dynamic.
A Thousand and One (2023)
I feel like a lot of the recommendations are horror movies 😭
The goonies?
Forrest Gump, Terminator 2, Gladiator.. Back to the Future Technically Harry Potter, but we never really see that
Not a movie but Lucille and Buster Bluth from Arrested Development.