Four Mothers (dir. Darren Thornton)

by Jack Martin | Apr 6, 2025

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 89 mins

UK Distributor: BFI

UK Release Date: 4 April 2025

WHO’S IN FOUR MOTHERS?

James McArdle, Fionnula Flanagan, Dearbhla Molloy, Paddy Glynn, Stella McCusker, Gordon Hickey, Gearoid Farrelly, Rory O’Neill, Niamh Cusack

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Darren Thornton (director, writer), Colin Thornton (writer), Eric Abraham, Martina Niland and Jack Sidey (producers), Hugh Drumm and Stephen Rennicks (composers), Tom Comerford and Burschi Wojnar (cinematographers), Gary Dollner and Gretta Ohle (editors)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

An author (McArdle) is tasked with looking after his friends’ elderly mothers…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON FOUR MOTHERS?

Growing up, many of us believed that our parents, especially our mothers, could and would do anything for us, and that we would return the favour later in life. After all, they carried us around for nine months before going through a traumatic birthing process, so it’s only reasonable that we offer them a similar rate of care once they reach a certain age.

But sometimes, it can come at the cost of our mental health, as a co-dependency is formed that makes it difficult to live our lives outside of caring for the very people who did the same for us. Four Mothers, from director and co-writer Darren Thornton, explores this complicated dilemma through a lightly comedic lens that offers some gentle charm alongside a wise, if slightly sitcom-like, narrative.

A remake of the 2008 Italian film Mid-August Lunch, the film relocates to Ireland, where novelist Edward (James McArdle) is caring for his elderly mother Alma (Fionnula Flanagan), who’s been rendered mute after a stroke with only her iPad to communicate. He’s also just published a best-selling YA novel that’s gained enough traction for him to embark on a book tour across America, but before Andrew can commit to the gruelling schedule his friends Billy (Gordon Hickey) and Colm (Gearoid Farrelly), and even his therapist Dermot (Rory O’Neill), suddenly dump their respective mothers Maude (Stella McCusker), Jean (Dearbhla Molloy) and Rosey (Paddy Glynn) onto him after they spontaneously head out to a Pride festival in Spain. Now, he has a quartet of elderly women to look after while also balancing the demands of his impending tour, which for someone already prone to panic attacks is a recipe for disaster if ever there was one.

You can see this kind of premise working in a 90s sitcom, like if Chandler in Friends was suddenly put in a caregiver position for everyone else’s mothers as the B-plot to a Ross and Rachel episode. For a short while, it appears that Four Mothers is going in a similar direction, for director Thornton and his sibling co-writer Colin Thornton create a series of personalities and scenarios that feel like they’re designed to come with their own in-built laugh track, as McArdle’s overwhelmed Edward races to the shops for their various breakfast orders, arguments ensue over which woman gets which pillow, and the ladies insist on a sudden six-hour car journey to Galway to visit an online medium. The initial effect is a little frustrating, for while there are some good laughs throughout these various situations, you feel as though many of them could be resolved through mere communication that characters are either too timid or too selfish to attempt, which in classic sitcom style makes things far worse than they ever needed to be.

But fairly quickly, the film settles into a slightly more sombre flow as it focuses less on the titular four mothers and more on the genuinely heavy burdens of the main protagonist. Edward is a character whose lack of self-confidence allows anyone to take advantage of his kindness, including his extremely self-serving friends and therapist whose actions would honestly be friendship-ending in any other reality, so when he finally has the chance to make something of himself, he’s always being held back by his own environment, as well as the overly harsh judgement of others for expressing such a desire. The film works best when it’s purely about his identifiable struggle and the growing desire to spread his wings while being confined to a dull and subservient existence, to where you do find yourself rooting this character to finally stand up for himself since he is written well enough for his desires to actually make sense, with James McArdle putting in a soulful performance as a likeable lead who also serves as a neat comedic foil to his livelier supporting players.

With a good enough heart underneath its sitcom stylings, Four Mothers is a fairly solid comedy-drama that certainly has it within itself to become a fine crowd-pleaser. Granted, its initially frustrating narrative may not win everyone over, but there’s enough to like about if to recommend as a gentle, heartwarming film that gives mothers of all kinds something nice to fuss over for just under an hour and a half.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Four Mothers is a likeable comedy-drama that works best when it’s focusing on the personal journey of James McArdle’s main character, who you are rooting for as he’s piled with one thing after another by selfish individuals around him, though it’s hard for it to shake away its sitcom familiarity when dealing with the four mothers of the title.