Mothering Sunday Movie Review

While watching “Mothering Sunday,” I knew that it would be a difficult review. Reading that it was based on a novel, I immediately felt that perhaps it should have remained one for as hard as director Eva Husson tried, she didn’t quite manage to get the story to leap off the page as it seemed too far a stretch.

I say this primarily because I found myself yawning more than usual, not because of Jamie Ramsay’s (Moffie) spectacular cinematography which, try as it did, couldn’t quite keep me from almost nodding off a few times.

The story is set in 1924. Here, Mother’s Day is an important day, but I won’t reveal why. Just know it’s pivotal to the story if you can piece it all together by the time you get the event. “Mothering Sunday” centers mainly around Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young), the maid of a wealthy family. She’s employed by Mr. and Mrs. Niven, played by Colin Firth and Olivia Colman, who treat her very well. Jane hasn’t had many experiences in life, something that’s seen as a good thing by Mrs. Niven; fewer disappointments to be had. However, she is having a secret love affair with Josh O’Conner’s character, Paul, from the neighboring manor. He’s engaged to someone else but loves lying in bed with the help. That said, because of the lack of emotion in this film, outside of a few sex scenes, you can barely tell they feel anything for one another. Come to think of it, I’m not just speaking of Paul and Jane, but of everyone. It sounds like the actors are walking around reading their lines instead of compelling you to remain in the story with any oratory dramatic performances as we’d expect.

The sets were glorious but the story, what you can dig up from its banal delivery, is sluggish and lifeless. It doesn’t help that the story bounces around from character to character without proper introductions as to who’s who. It takes a minute to catch up to that, and by the time you do, you’re not as interested as you once were.

We are shown Jane at different stages in her life, which doesn’t help much with the seasickness. At some point in her life, after her work as a maid, she’s with a philosopher named Donald (Sope Dirisu). Donald teaches her many things about life and leaves a deep impression.

You only know what stage of her life you’re watching from where she is in her writing. When working with the Nivens, she helps herself to a book or two, first interested in how they feel and how they look. Then she gets a real education from Donald, which allows her to become a writer. At the end of the film, we see through a very short and concise appearance by Glenda Jackson, playing the older Jane, that she did become a success.