THE STORY – Mila has spent 15 years working away from her husband and daughter. When an accident sends her unexpectedly back home to rural Poland, Mila has to face a new truth: her family had been moving on without her
THE CAST – Evgenia Dodina, Arkadiusz Jakubik, Katarzyna Łubik, Martin Ogbu, Dominika Bednarczyk & Chelli Goldenberg
THE TEAM – Or Sinai (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 93 Minutes
When “Mama” begins, audiences assume Evgenia Dodina’s Mila is enjoying what appears to be the fruits of her labor. Basking in a lavish lifestyle as she dances the night away alongside her younger lover, Martin. Filmmaker Or Sinai pulls the rug out from under audiences relatively quickly as it reveals the house she’s in isn’t hers and that Mila is merely the housekeeper for the wealthy Israeli family she now lives with. Martin, her paramour, is also another employee of the family she works for. It’s a simple life, but one coated with the illusion of affluence. Mila’s life back home in Poland feels like a distant memory. She has become more of a provider than an actual member of the family the longer she has been separated from them. That is, until a workplace injury forces her to come back home to a completely unrecognizable life.
Sinai’s subdued drama almost plays like a fish-out-of-water story in the way Mila’s character returns to a place that should feel familiar. Instead, her homecoming comes off as something imperceptible. The romance from her marriage has faded, especially with her and her husband’s extramarital activities. Mila’s daughter has continued to move on with her life, leaving her mother out of important life decisions. With Sinai’s direction the quietest of moments speak volumes, mainly due to the work of Dodina. She delivers a silently stirring performance that maneuvers a whirlwind of emotions from an individual who, for the life of them, can’t properly express how they feel. Sinai, through each interaction, peels back the layers, allowing a talent like Dodina to flourish in the nuances of Mila’s attempted reconstruction of her old life. “Mama” as a whole falls into the vein of patiently naturalistic dramas that let the events of the film wash over their characters. Sinai’s construction of Mila as a character is the most fascinating aspect of the film, even when it leans into the family drama that’s never as interesting as when it’s far more focused on Mila’s internal journey.
“Mama” does avoid wallowing in what could have been a far more melodramatic tone, as Sinai’s screenplay is more focused on dismantling the intricacies of Mila’s domestic life and how those relationships that once were everything to her don’t hold the same weight now. The complications that arise from her relationship with her daughter are where the film is at its best; motherly love displayed in the most cold of manners, even if the intention comes from a genuine place of love. Mila’s relationship with her husband Antoni, played by Arkadiusz Jakubik, while intriguing, mainly pushes an already simmering story to face some type of conflict that will keep it from feeling too meandering. As a whole, the male relationships in Mila’s life are nowhere near as realized compared to the one she shares with her daughter. As Sinai continues using Mike as a tether back to this new life Mila has formed, it only makes it feel more like the relationship comes from a place of being a narrative device rather than an organic relationship.
Michal Holland’s editing helps prevent “Mama” from becoming a chore to watch, even when its narrative begins to lose audiences in the minor familiarities it dances around. Matan Radin’s cinematography perfectly plays into Sinai’s juxtaposition of these two lives. Mila’s new life, even as a housekeeper, is more vibrant, layered in an extravagance that is not afforded to her back in Poland. Meanwhile, her actual home feels colder just as the relationships around her have become. The production design by Aleksandra Klemens and Alicja Kazimierczak only emphasizes this as audiences, like Mila, witness the conditions of her family home. A glorious mansion is now substituted for a house that’s literally falling apart from years’ worth of water damage.
Sinai’s exploration into maternal regrets and acceptance is effective, until it isn’t. By the time “Mama” comes to its conclusion, it doesn’t end on as powerful a note as one would expect, considering the material. In fact, it may leave audiences as cold as Mila’s exterior is shown to be. There’s little to return to besides Dodina’s performance, falling into the realm of composed dramas that create an experience that doesn’t feel replicated upon further rewatches.
