I’ll admit I wish I’d known more about filmmaker Nico Raineau sooner, as he’s managed to deliver some really interesting short films lately. “Mother’s Day” is a complete departure from the bone crunching action drama of “Brix and the Bitch” and it’s a fine drama comedy that I wanted more from. And you know you’re watching a great short film when you could have sat through two hours of the characters barely noticing the time pass. Lauren Schacher (who co-writes with Raineau) plays Mara, a young clubber who awakens in the house of the man she spent the night with one morning.
The man she was with is happy to leave and be on his way leaving her behind in his apartment. As Mara prepares to leave for work, she meets young Brandon who is sitting by the door waiting for his dad. Unprepared and incapable of leaving him alone, she takes Brandon along with her for the day, looking for his dad and finding the circumstances of his life somewhat sad. Forced to go to work as a cleaning lady, Mara soon finds the appeal of a steady life of being a mother when she is forced to chase after the precocious Brandon as well as her client’s young daughter Violet. Raineau thankfully avoids a lot of clichés and side steps pit falls that could have turned “Mother’s Day” in to a trite drama comedy.
The performances all around are absolutely excellent and very natural, with stars Schacher and Robert Carbo presenting a fantastic chemistry with one another. Raineau depicts the stability of family life as a charming circumstance, while Mara slowly grows and begins to see what the other side of the fence is like. She’s already been the party girl, now whether she likes it or not, she’s experiencing what being a mom and looking after someone but herself is like. “Mother’s Day” is a remarkable drama comedy that packs one heck of a great plot twist. I thought I had this film pegged from the outset, but Raineau twists conventions and hands audiences something very outside the box and compelling.