REVIEW: ‘Mother’s Day’ Delivers Brutal Combat

In order to protect herself and those around her, former special operative Nina (Agnieszka Grochowska)was declared dead and hidden away from the world. This included separating her from her baby boy Max, who has since been adopted and has no memory of his real parents. But when gangsters kidnap Max at the order of someone looking for revenge, Nina is forced to crash into her son’s life if he is to have any hope of surviving in Mother’s Day, directed by Mateusz Rakowicz and written by Rakowicz and Lukasz M. Maciejewski.

Nothing is better than when we get to indulge in a piece of art that combines all its elements perfectly from start to finish, and when everything merges together into a whole that is far greater than the sum of its parts. While these experiences are great, they are not the norm. Far more often we get media that manages to deliver an element or two that are great, while other pieces of its delivery lag behind. This is the case with Mother’s Day, a movie that hangs its presentation on the brutality of its combat, and pulls the rest of its narrative together just well enough to get you to the next action scene.

Nina’s battle to save her son from the repercussions of her past delivers a level of grit and brutality to its action that allows it to stand apart from many other offerings. From the highlight fight that appears to be done completely within a single shot that sees Nina ripe through a kitchen with anything within reach, to shorter clashes that dot the movie’s hour and a half-runtime, every bruise and broken bone that the film deals out to its cast is captured with painful intent. And Nina is not excluded from this brutal treatment either. While she repeatedly manages to walk away from numerous one-versus-many fights, she never gets out unscathed. By the movie’s final climatic confrontation, she is more bruised than human, as she limps and staggers against her final opponent.

As I stated earlier though, the narrative that surrounds Mother’s Day’s intense combat moments is fine, but not great. The collection of murderers and psychos that come up against Nina brings a fairly eclectic energy to the proceedings but grows stale fairly fast. The biggest stand out of this bunch is the gangster Woltomierz, played by Szymon Wróblewski. This masochist delivers the most intimidating moments of any of the villains, while also awkwardly parading his bare bottom around every chance he gets. Though by the end, even his shtick manages to get a little old.

Beyond the direct challenges Nina faces, the plot does try to bring a bit of a twist, but the moment is so foreshadowed that it should be a surprise to no one. The film tries to set up some emotional moments between Nina and her son Max, but these fail to land as hard as they need to due to Nina’s overwhelming exhaustion for most of their time together, coupled with the fact that Max doesn’t even know who she is till the very end of the movie. By the time the pieces are all in place for the two of them to have a moment, the film opts instead to steal the moment to set up a potential sequel, rather than take one last swing at making this one work.

While the big moments never come together, Grochowska does a great job playing the past-her-prime agent who radiates pure “I’m too tired for this” energy. From negotiations to her fighting style, it is clear that Nina is just plain done with what the world is throwing at her. Despite never having to fight mobsters and assassins, I feel like many of us will appreciate the energy Grochowska brings to her character.

Reinforcing the harsh combat of Mother’s Day is the general energy of the movie’s setting. The locations present a world that feels natural for such violence to thrive in. Poverty, hardship, and destitution feel like the order of the day. In such places, rage is bound to flourish, and crime becomes an ordinary thing. The rare moments where the story does jump out of these settings to someplace friendlier are always striking, as they remind us of what is missing from the bulk of the world.

Mother’s Day ultimately manages to deliver some great moments of brutal action, combined with enough story to get you from one fight scene to the next. If you love movies where you feel the punches and the bones break, this one is definitely worth checking out.

Mother’s Day is streaming now on Netflix.