I have a certain appreciation for movies and TV that opt to tell their stories through unique lenses; filtering the trials and travails of the characters through unorthodox methods of storytelling. Examples include through musical numbers, dream sequences, body swaps, alternate timelines, or in the case of Mother of All Shows, an ersatz 1970s-style variety program.
Elder millennial Liza (Writer and director Melissa D’Agostino) is preparing to bid her terminally-ill mother Rosa (Wendie Malick) farewell. But before she even enters the care home, her mind retreats to a cerebral variety-show featuring mother-and-daughter in a metaphorical tug-of-war over how Liza’s life turned out versus Rosa’s vision. While Liza seems perfectly content with her life and current boyfriend Alan (Darryl Hinds), Rosa can’t help but crack wise and belittle her daughter’s life choices and body size nearly every chance she gets. Mental facsimiles of Liza’s antagonistic cousin Lisa (Tarah Consoli), ex-suitor Tony (Phil Luzi) and deceased father Gus (Michael A. Miranda) join in on the televised mayhem while an unseen audience cheers (and jeers) them on.
One thing I realized early on is that this sort of device tends to work far better in a long-running series where the characters and their personalities are long established, allowing the audience to better enjoy the unpacking and reflecting of already-established traits. It’s a little more awkward when done with characters we’ve never met and aside from brief framing segments in the real world, Mother plays out almost entirely in variety show-form. It gives the audience very little to grasp onto and makes the core of the film less effective than it could’ve been.
The segments themselves are often creative and give the actors plenty of room to psychologically mine the generational trauma between mother and daughter and the ripple effects on those around them. But at a bloated 110 minutes, the concept wears out its welcome long before the end credits to the point where you’d wish an off-screen floor manager would give the characters the signal to wrap things up.
Having said that, D’Agostino and Malick’s antagonistic chemistry make for a juicy pairing that similarly estranged parents and their adult children can sink their teeth into. Their mental games of tit-for-tat are the film’s best feature and its most relatable one. No one gets through the messy business of child rearing entirely unscathed after all.
Mother of All Shows is a passable curiosity with a decent hook, but mediocre execution. Work-shopping the idea as a live show would’ve immediately illustrated the necessity of tightening the story and perhaps a stronger intro to better establish the cast of characters. It may be worth tuning in, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself wanting to change the channel well before the credits roll.
5.5/10
Mother of All Shows is available on all major VOD platforms as of July 16