Mother’s Day is right around the corner and this special day needs a celebration, even though every day is Mother’s Day.
Every second Sunday of May it’s celebrated as Mother’s Day in Brazil (and a couple of other countries) and you should celebrate this day with your mother in the best way possible. So, we made a list of movies that talk about mother-daughter relationships for you to have a great way to spend this holiday with your mom.
It has a lot of movies, series, and books that approach this theme – I mean, you probably wished your mom was Lorelai from Gilmore Girls, that fun mom – but honestly, each one of the stories has its particular way to translate that special relationship. Also, it shows how these relationships change over the years without losing importance. So, here are six movies that you need to watch with your mom!
- Freaky Friday (2003)
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Honestly? A classic. Freaky Friday shows Anna and her mother Tess constantly arguing because they don’t understand each other and don’t communicate. It reminds me of the Brazilian song “Pais e Filhos” which says “You tell me that your parents don’t understand you. But you don’t understand your parents”.
Thanks to a fortunate cookie they switch bodies being obliged to see and experience each other’s life, discovering that an act of selfless love towards the other could make them change back.
During the time they spend being with each other, they see the little things that they were unable to see from the outside, and with this new perspective, they are able to grow the mother-daughter relationship, begging to appreciate it. The film has Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis as the main characters.
- Mamma Mia (2008)
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It’s a musical romantic comedy inspired by a play that is based on the song of the Swedish pop group ABBA. It obviously has a majestic soundtrack and an amazing cast, with Meryl Strip, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgård.
The movie tells the story of Sophie, a bride-to-be, who lives with her mother in Greece and never met her father. Sophie finds her mother’s diary that mentioned three men who she had a relationship with, and she invites all of them to her wedding, hoping to discover which one of them is her father. During the movie, she has special moments with the three of them and a couple of fights with Donna, her mother, who had no idea about this.
In the end, all of them work through the situation, showing that Donna and Sophie have a special connection, with her being a solo mom and their huge love for each other. It’s a great movie to watch with your mom and sing all of the songs that also complement the story.
- Brave (2012)
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A Disney movie that has one of the most powerful princesses of all. Merida is a princess somewhere in Scotland (so the whole movie has a beautiful background) and her view of the future is different from her parents. She has a bow and arrow and is always shooting and having fun, but her family has plans for marriage before she becomes queen.
The difference between them causes some fights with her mother. Then, Merida meets a witch that concedes what she wants: her freedom. But something happens with her mother that makes Merida fight to help her, while their relationship grows and makes them understand each other.
- Minha Mãe é uma Peça (2013)
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It’s a trilogy, all worth watching! But talking about the first movie: Herminia is an iconic mother, played by Paulo Gustavo, that was inspired by his own mother. The film has some hilarious moments, between a mother and her two children (whom she never truly believed are adults).
Is a perfect movie to watch and bond with your mom while you laugh and cry, because even though it is a comedy you will probably cry. The sequels show Dona Hermínia suffering when her children leave home and start to self-discover and grow their own families. Besides the suffering, she still shows up, revealing how important is the presence of a mother.
- Fala Sério, Mãe! (2017)
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A Brazilian movie that shows the whole life and — as Mufasa would say — “the circle of life”. It is about the relationship between a mother and her older daughter during infancy, and especially the growth until becoming a teenager. The film shows the daily situations where they fight, cry, laugh, and every other detail, including how their communication changes as they get older.
My favorite scene is when Malu (the daughter) has a fever when she is younger, and her mother takes a shower with her. Time passes by and now the mom is not so well and Malu, already a teenager, takes her to the shower to make her feel better. This scene reminds you that your mother takes care of you today, but someday you will take care of her.
- Wonder (2017)
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An adaptation of a book that tells the story of a ten-year-old boy who has a rare facial deformity and it’s going to school for the first time. His family does everything to protect him, as said in the movie “August is the Sun. Me and Mom and Dad are planets orbiting the Sun”. Even though he is the protagonist of the movie, his family has an important presence, especially his mother.
Played by Julia Roberts, the mother is the one who pushes August to go to school and be with other kids. And, when he starts to go to school, he rediscovers himself and his goals in life. At the end of the movie, he says “I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives […] my mom does the most for never giving up on anything, especially me.”
It is a beautiful movie with a lot of lessons about empathy. You and your mom will most probably be crying by the end of it.
I hope you have the best day with your mother and binge-watch all of the movies above with popcorn and maybe one of these recipes to make everything sweeter.
The article above was edited by Ana Beatriz Aith.
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