A sumptuously-designed and gorgeously decorated melodrama that recalls a type of kitchen sink melodrama rarely made for the big screen anymore, Mothers' Instinct is a lavish, pulpy and supremely enjoyable motion picture made for a demographic the studios do not seem incentivised on serving very often. Dispatching twists and turns at the rate of knots, while maintaining a delicious atmosphere that lingers and throbs from open to close, Mothers' Instinct establishes a confident tone it infuses with just enough campy fun to be thoroughly appreciated by its intended audiences, all while employing and teasing conventions and subversions of the tricky-to-master sub-genre.
Stacked with talent in front of and behind the camera, Mothers' Instinct lies on solid foundations that serve it well indeed. First time director Benoît Delhomme, who puts his expertise to terrific use as his own cinematographer, does a tremendous job of inviting us into the palpable 60s American setting and letting us stew in the handsome surroundings. Picture perfect, Delhomme's eye for a gorgeous frame is supported by the excellent production design which, married to the wonderful score from Anne Nikitin, results in a glamour feature with an air of luxury and grandeur. Contrasting a desirable lifestyle with a premise you'd dread to experience yourself, Mothers' Instinct utilises its audience as the helpless viewers of an impending disaster - a notion that very cleverly supports its own premise and powerless protagonist.
As mentioned, Mothers' Instinct has assembled an incredibly impressive team of creatives, but there's one person who deserves to be spotlighted for their extraordinary contributors: costume designer Mitchell Travers. A masterclass in costuming - where dresses match wallpaper, accessories compliment spring gardens and handbags bring out the colour of a stained glass window - the level of detail poured into them make it irresistible not to revel in, and from it stems so much of the joy that is watching the drama unfold. Travers' work is sophisticated yet exciting, bringing new life to familiar 'American housewife' aesthetic that the importance of these lesser-discussed roles behind the camera.
Of course, perhaps the single greatest draw of Mothers' Instinct is its stars. Here, Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway are reliably superb, their scintillating chemistry only enriching the strength of their individual performances. Whether intentional or not, an unravelling character is often calibrated as messy, but Chastain performs with skill and poise: that you can see the internal conflict before that she verbalises it, making for a far more interesting and breathlessly exciting portrayal. Meanwhile, Hathaway provides a characteristically fascinating performance rendered with the quirks of an artist whose work is hard to truly define; she's so chameleon in her ability to adapt and it serves a character playing in this sub-genre sandbox excellently. It's to the surprise of no one that these two can deliver the goods, but it's such a delight to watch them thrive in the same film.
Mothers' Instinct isn't without its flaw though, and the majority come from its thin - and frustratingly underdeveloped screenplay. At only 92 minutes, there's an argument to be made that the characters (particularly Hathaway's Celine) are not afforded the depth they need for the film's emotional beats to land with the gusto needed. Unaddressed at best or totally ignored at worst, there's an abundance of thematic ground and fascinating subtext the film could have tapped into to make for a more satisfying and layered film experience, but instead the film is prevented from being its best self by the breakneck pace and short runtime that never provides it with breathing room to excel.
Particularly when you consider that these were criticisms levelled at the original French film, the refusal to evolve these elements in the Delhomme's English-language translation and remake is more than a frustration - it's a genuine disappointment and pretty lazy, especially given the changes required to take the film to the next level are surprisingly minor, but would have made a world of difference in the finished product.
Still, despite the nagging feeling that the overall film is good, never great, Mothers Instinct remains a completely entertaining and endlessly thrilling voyage into a suburban dream turned waking nightmare. Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway are superb in these leading roles, embracing this camp yet thrilling opportunity to sink their teeth into something on the lighter side - all while getting to wear the most gorgeous of costumes to grace our screen in some time! Good for them.