In a furnishings retailer devoid of consumers, an aged matriarch, referred to solely as “Mom” and performed by Ellen Burstyn, has settled on a sofa. That’s, she’s actually settled on a sofa. She’s sitting on it and refusing to budge. She guarantees that if anybody tries to maneuver or carry her off the sofa, she’s going to battle to the extent that, “I’ll fall and hit my head so exhausting it is going to burst.”
Nobody in “Mom, Sofa” is inordinately pragmatic, or else this film, written and directed by Niclas Larsson, tailored from a novel by Jerker Virdborg, can be a lot shorter. Granted, Burstyn’s character, first seen in black wraparound sun shades and sporting a helmet-like flip hairdo, is a formidable determine. And stranding her multi-accented grownup kids (it’s defined, weakly) within the retailer together with her over a number of days is one method to impact one more cinematic contemplation on Why Households Are Dysfunctional.
Mom’s kids are Ewan McGregor’s David, buttoned-down and flying aside; Rhys Ifans’s Gruffudd, medium shambolic by default; and Lara Flynn Boyle’s Linda, snarling and swearing a blue streak.
Apple, meet tree: Mom is cussed, and admittedly imply, albeit extra formal in her language. “I by no means needed any kids, David,” she virtually snarls after having given this son a nasty minimize on the palm that gained’t heal. Hey! Symbolism! Or, one ought to say, one other little bit of symbolism.
Whereas the movie’s premise might recommend black comedy (and the typically fake-jaunty, fake-portentous rating by Christopher Bear underscores that concept), Burstyn’s character, which the actor performs together with her customary experience, is so totally unpleasant that viewing the image is a principally anxious expertise with not a lot of a reward on the finish, which shifts to magic realist mode for lack of wherever higher to go.
Mom Sofa
Not rated. Operating time: 1 hour 36 minutes. In theaters.
