MOVIE REVIEW – After the Jennifer Lopez action thriller “Mother,” in which Lopez portrayed a female assassin forced to protect her child, separated from her at birth and placed with another family, from a gang of criminals, we now have ANOTHER – this time Polish – Netflix movie that tells almost exactly the same story! Lower budget, more “rough-around-the-edges” (but bloodier) action scenes, a more grotesque tone, but the story is essentially the same… Has this Polish thriller managed to be any better?

Many questions arise with Netflix’s latest Polish language film, “Mother’s Day.” Trailers had us anticipating an action-packed thriller, featuring a former NATO special operations agent turned mother, trying to save her abducted son from criminals. But was this hour and a half in front of the screen worth it?

Mothers at war

Enough with this endless female assassin narrative! Someone needs to tell the screenwriters that we’ve seen this plot a hundred times over. If we’re going to get “motherly,” I think even Jennifer Lopez’s action thriller “Mother” could be a better watch instead – at least there we know what to expect.

“Mother’s Day” is pretty much the same story, only this time served up with a Polish twist. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with Polish films, but this clone wasn’t exactly imaginative. The entire film feels like a cheap, Eastern European version of the aforementioned Lopez flick.

Cut-rate action

The action scenes were, even with the utmost goodwill, average at best. I thought maybe we’d finally see something exciting here, but sadly I was disappointed. The clashes were mostly predictable, the cuts so sudden and frantic that it was often hard to keep track of what was happening on screen. The worst part, however, was that I never felt during the movie that the characters were truly in danger.

While other Polish thrillers like “Furioza” and similar, genre-defining American thrillers can stir excitement and tension in the viewer, “Mother’s Day” failed to excel in this aspect – especially due to the occasionally unrealistic nature of the action scenes. I could mention films like “Atomic Blonde” or the “John Wick” series from American AAA productions, which are good examples of how to create raw and uncompromising action scenes without pushing the boundaries of plausibility. These films create realistic and serious actions by integrating the character story, which truly creates tension and makes viewing more exciting.

“Mother’s Day” attempted to do the same, but unfortunately failed. The result landed somewhere between a Polish-translated B-grade action flick and a hyper-realistic thriller.

Eastern european, bargain-bin Kill Bill

The film’s protagonist, Nina, a former NATO special agent and mother, wonderfully portrayed by Agnieszka Grochowska, was able to hold my attention. However, despite the strong female character and heart-wrenching dramatic story, the script felt like it was plucked from a mediocre action comic. The dramatic and humorous elements should arrive in harmony, but here their arrival was more akin to a car crash.

Szymon Wróblewski’s character as the “super-villain” Volt is another chapter in the film’s “our mother’s a samurai” exaggerations. If you watched too many cartoons in the 90s, then you might enjoy watching this colorful and grotesque character who wields two different types of shockers, as if he’d just stepped off a comic book page. But if you were expecting a serious action movie, Wróblewski’s portrayal merely highlights one of the film’s many shortcomings.

Holiday letdown – when being a Parent Is Not Enough

“Mother’s Day” boasts an excellent central idea and lead, but due to flaws in the script, directorial decisions, and the chaos of the action scenes, the film fails to fully exploit its potential. This is a regrettable missed opportunity for a film where a non-superpowered mother confronts the world’s toughest criminals.

“Mother’s Day” attempts to transform into an entertaining, action-packed thriller, but unfortunately falters in several key areas. The overly cartoonish villain and the occasionally forced humor serve only to distract from the film’s initial strengths, which eventually fade into obscurity by the end.

-BadSector-