The best films to watch with mum on Mother’s Day

The multiverse is clearly having a moment. After Marvel gave us several Spider-Men and Doctor Stranges in its last two movies, we now have director duo ‘the Daniels’ (Kwan and Scheinert, Swiss Army Man) exploring the same meta-territory of parallel worlds, but in their own ultra-idiosyncratic way.

The concept is a doozy, ripe with comedic juice and packed with visual thrills. The inhabitants of another universe have discovered a way to jump into the minds of their alternative selves and absorb their skills (similar to how Neo could download kung fu in The Matrix). They can achieve this by doing something very specifically unexpected, like suddenly eating a stick of lip salve or professing love for someone they barely know.

This kicks open the door for a manic, 139-minute episode of madcap action. It requires Michelle Yeoh – as losing-at-life launderette owner Evelyn Wang – to gamely toggle between several identities. These include a martial-arts action star not so different from her real-life self; a teppanyaki chef who discovers that her colleague is secretly controlled, Ratatouille-style, by a talking raccoon; and a woman with hotdogs for fingers.

The Daniels juggle silly gags and weird visuals like cackling Dadaists. But while the film over-indulges itself a little with an inflated runtime, it never totally comes off its hinges. The heavy concepts (nihilism and existentialism) are lightened by their deft tethering to one family’s relatable tribulations, including tax problems and intergenerational friction. Not to mention the sheer likeability of its core players: Ke Huy Quan (Data from The Goonies) as Evelyn’s sweet husband; Stephanie Hsu as her ironically named daughter Joy; and Yeoh herself, knocking every last scene out of the park. Thanks mainly to her, the Daniels’ movie deserves to be seen by, well, everyone everywhere.

Turning Red is a highly re-streamable delight. Helter-skelter, a bit mad and full of heart, it bounces along with the out-of-control energy of the early adolescence its depicts. When it pauses, it also offers a seriously touching snapshot of mums and their daughters, as well as a smart critique of why the burden of family expectations and the inevitability of teenage boundary-pushing usually results in carnage.

Its hero, Mei Lee (voiced by tweenage San Fran actor Rosalie Chiang), is just your average Toronto high-schooler coming of age in the early noughts: she’s acing her grades, is rendered dorky around the handsome emo boy at the local convenience store, gets regularly embarrassed by her strict and controlling mum (Sandra Oh), and joins her three girl pals in crushing on an NSYNC-ish boy band called 4*Town.

Oh, and she ‘puffs’ into a giant red panda whenever she gets excited or stressed. Which, being 13, is often. The movie’s inner tension comes from the family curse that causes this transformation, and as it builds as Turning Red neatly expands its Chinese mythology to introduce a small posse of older rellies onto the scene and a one-off shot at reversing it. But while not quite top-tier Pixar, Turning Red works so well because it makes Mei Lee’s panda-side all of a part with her teenage self. Her fury at the coming-of-age curse are mostly directed at the prospect of missing the upcoming 4*Town concert, rather than being transformed into a 10-foot furball against her will. The coming-of age metaphor harmonises perfectly with the narrative, just as it did in Inside Out.

There’s an entertaining moment when the curse first strikes in the bathroom and dad Jin Lee (First Cow’s Orion Lee) misconstrues what’s happening to his daughter. It’s not hard to spot the subtext here, even before dad tiptoes sheepishly away in a manner fathers everywhere can probably relate to. 

For all its CG bells and whistles – and the pandas are gorgeously realised, right down to their micro-detailed fur and blazing eyes – and the superstar songwriting chops of Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, who provide the 4*Town tunes – it’s clearly a handwoven labour of love from Canadian-Chinese animator Domee Shi (Bao). As well as Pixar’s first solo female director (Brenda Chapman was joint director on Brave and she was sacked, so not a studio equality highpoint), Shi has created the studio’s most diverse cast of characters to date.

She and co-writer Julia Cho also take the handbrake off completely with a borderline demented climax, but maybe their boldest move is tackling female puberty in such a candid, empathetic way. They’ve made a billion parent-daughter conversations just a little easier.

The setting is the enchanted Colombian hillside town of Encanto where the Madrigal family lives. At the heart of its loveable ensemble of shapeshifters, fortune tellers and healers is unassuming teenager Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz), the one child in the family not to receive a unique power in a special ceremony involving a candle. Her door to magic is literally slammed shut in her face, and he’s forced to become an unlikely hero when the clan’s magic is threatened.

Encanto has a few nifty plot pivots and surprising reveals, but it’s the animation itself that steals the show. Zootopia co-directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard and their animators have really emptied out the Disney crayon box to render its luscious flowers, hair textures and skin tones. The result feels like a genuine love letter to the diversity of Latin America. 

Miranda’s shimmying, celebratory songs add another flavour into the pot, smartly and catchily unpacking the family’s foibles, as well as the movie’s themes of self-worth and identity. You will be humming ‘Welcome to the Family Madrigal’ – expositional but infectious – all the way home.

The characters are infectious, too, and well-drawn, enriching Encanto’s world with gifts that extend far beyond their bestowed powers. It might sound a little cheesy but the message that the truest magic comes from being yourself never gets old. Excelente.

While it's packed with teenage drama – think childhood friends slipping away, hormones calling all the shots, and the yearning to be anywhere but home – Greta Gerwig’s second directorial effort is more than just a coming-of-age film. The expressive yet relatable mother-daughter story involves walking a metaphorical tightrope between unconditional love and major scream fest. It brilliantly captures the realness of mother-daughter relationships on screen with precision and a touch of nostalgia.

You can have your pick between the 1976 original or the 2003 remake, but for this list, we're choosing the latter, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. This body-swapping comedy gold shows how a magic fortune cookie can turn the tables around by allowing mother and daughter to walk in each other's shoes – literally. While doing so, they learn about each other's woes and how to deal with it. They also gain major empathy points in the process too.

Instead of turning the mother into the daughter, this Disney-Pixar animation turns the mother into a bear. Follow the fearless Princess Merida as she tries to reverse the accidental curse she placed on her mum, but not without bonding and working through their relationship. While it's set in medieval Scotland, the mother-daughter relationship portrayed here is timeless. This family-film is fun for the little kids too, so cosy up with the whole crew.

Here we go again. No, we’re not complaining about this fun jukebox musical one bit – singing along to ABBA classics with your real mum and on-screen mum Meryl Streep can be really fun. Plus, isn't it exciting to snoop on your mum's past, realising you've got three potential dads? Okay, maybe not. But watching how Amanda Seyfried's character's journey of finding her real dad brings her closer to her mum is pretty much heart-warming. Warning: Pierce Brosnan’s singing.

Being a mum is tough, so big up to Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn for keeping it real in this 2016 comedy. Not fitting into their community's mold of being perfect mothers, newly single mother Amy teams up with two other burned-out mums to embark on a carefree spree of bad behaviour. While Bad Moms isn’t your usual Mother’s Day pick, it's a fun alternative that looks at what it means to be a mother.

Whether you're celebrating with your real mum or someone you consider a mother figure, this deeply moving drama will show you that family isn't just born, it's made. Based on a true story about football player Michael Oher, the film follows Michael as a teenager, overcoming his learning difficulties and achieving excellence in American football while living with his new foster family. The ultimate mum award in this film goes to Sandra Bullock who nabbed an Oscar for best actress.

Based on the best-selling novel by Amy Tan, this Hollywood game-changer is about a group of four women who moved from China to America with their respective daughters. Prepare to be swept up in eight compelling narratives about mothers and daughters, and the meaning of family. Grab some tissues and expect a sweet-sour blend of humour and emotions.

It’s exactly what it says on the tin – people seeing the special day with their loved ones. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Shay Mitchell, Jason Sudeikis, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, and Jennifer Aniston. It spotlights three generations in Atlanta, dealing with their unique relationships with their mothers during the week leading up to Mother's Day. It also covers topics like divorce, adoption, and widow.