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Photograph: Disney Pixar

The Best Movies To Watch on Mother's Day

Check out one of these quintessential Mother’s Day movies, which include uplifting classics, tear-jerkers and more

Joshua Rothkopf
Written by
Joshua Rothkopf
&
Dan Morgridge
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Need a gift idea for Mother’s Day? Forget the perfume and supermarket flowers and get mum something a lot more special: a night on the couch with a great movie. What mother wouldn’t relish film night with their favourite kid. Or even their second favourite? The question then becomes, ‘What to watch?’ Well, you’ve come to the right place. Here, you’ll find 12 can’t-miss options for an evening of streaming with mama. Whether she’s into coming-of-age comedies, tear-jerking family dramas or hopscotching through the multiverse, there’s something here that’ll make every mother smile – and perhaps remind you both of your own relationship. (Hopefully it’s not Mommie Dearest.) Don’t forget the Chardonnay.

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🤰The 50 most icon movie mums
👨 The 15 best Father’s Day movies to watch with your dad
🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time

Mother's Day movies

  • Film
  • Comedy

Greta Gerwig wrote and directed this semi-autobiographical stunner about a chatty Sacramento teen (an arresting Saoirse Ronan) who yearns to be anywhere but home and spends her days quarreling with her equally strong-willed mother (an invincible Laurie Metcalf). Prediction: Just as there’s a Breakfast Club Generation, there will be a Lady Bird one.

Terms of Endearment (1983)
  • Film

James L. Brooks’s mother-daughter melodrama plays like a three-season television series condensed into just over two hours. Shockingly, that’s a positive. You will be crying by the end. We’ll countenance no criticism of Shirley MacLaine or Debra Winger, both of whom crack the pantheon of indelible performances.

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  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Film
  • Science fiction
  • Recommended

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s hyperkinetic Oscar winner is about a lot of things – Asian-American identity, existential despair, generational trauma, hot-dog fingers – but beneath all the fannypack fights and black-hole bagels, it’s ultimately a movie about a mother’s love for her daughter. Watch it with your own mom and prepare to laugh, cry and repeatedly attempt to explain the concept of a ‘multiverse.’ 

The Incredibles (2004)
  • Film
  • Animation

What do you get when you combine the director of The Iron Giant, the genius animation of powerhouse Pixar and a witty story about a dysfunctional family of superheroes? An instant whiz-bang classic. Holly Hunter’s rubber-limbed mom, Elastigirl, steals the show with her chirpy, upbeat optimism. You will recognize this parent.

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Freaky Friday (2003)
  • Film

The 1976 original lures our nostalgic hearts, but this 2003 remake was a rare example of Hollywood improving on the source. Much of the success should be attributed to a ferociously funny Jamie Lee Curtis, underrated as a comedian, who cuts loose with snarling teenage abandon. She even got some serious awards buzz.

Aliens (1986)
  • Film
  • Science fiction

In the first Alien, Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley is fighting on pure survival instinct – and, perhaps, to protect the spaceship Nostromo’s resident cat. In James Cameron’s sequel, she levels up to true mother strength. With the ship’s resident orphan, Newt, imperiled by yet another angry xenomorph, her maternal instincts kick in, leading to a climactic battle between a robot-suited mecha mom and pissed-off alien queen – herself a mother just trying to protect her kin. 

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The Kids Are All Right (2010)
  • Film

Director Lisa Cholodenko’s indie family drama drops a dopey sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo) into the lives of a comfortable lesbian couple (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, both wonderful) and watches the relationship seismically shudder. Apart from being gay positive, it’s a movie with two great moms, not one.

Places in the Heart (1984)
  • Film

You’ll like it! You’ll really like it! Fortunately, Sally Field’s performance in this evocative portrait of small-town life is a good deal more subtle and restrained than her notorious Oscar acceptance speech. As a Depression-era widow beating back the bank’s advances on her Texas cotton farm, Field is as inspiring as mothers get—just like yours.

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Mask (1985)
  • Film

Cher won raves for her portrayal of Florence “Rusty” Dennis, the saucy, drug-addicted motorcycle mom of a skull-deformed teenage son played by Eric Stoltz. Peter Bogdanovich’s heartstring-tugging drama doesn’t shy away from Rusty’s flaws even as it exalts her devotion to her child’s well-being.

The Fighter (2010)
  • Film

Don’t go head-to-head with the Massachusetts mauler, or you’ll get the taste pounded out of you—and no, we’re not referring to Mark Wahlberg or Christian Bale. Boxing manager Melissa Leo beats up her husband, disciplines frizzy-haired intruders (“What are you doing opening your mouth in my kitchen?”) and fiercely protects her turf.

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Gloria (1980)
  • Film

Gena Rowlands is a tough-as-nails mob moll whose maternal instinct kicks in when a young boy is targeted by some thugs. It’s almost as if director John Cassavetes had written this role as a valentine to his actor wife; even though this crime story is far from perfect, it proves once and for all that Rowlands is a national treasure.

Mommie Dearest (1981)
  • Film

If your mother is remotely like ours, she won’t mind watching Faye Dunaway get unhinged in this camp classic. (Afterward, she’ll be able to say, “Well, I’m not that bad.”) Don’t be surprised if she knows much of the dialogue: “No…wire…hangers…ever!!!” “You don’t deserve nice things!!!” “Eat that steak or you’ll have it for breakfast, young lady!!!”

Need a Mother's Day playlist?

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