Mothers' Instinct

Mothers' Instinct is a drama-thriller set in an American suburb in the early 1960s. Alice and Celine are neighbours and close friends whose lives appear enviable: comfortable homes, successful husbands and sons of the same age who are growing up almost like brothers. Their routine of shared family occasions ends after a tragic accident. Guilt, suspicion and paranoia set in, and the bond between the two women begins to come apart as each starts to doubt the other. Anne Hathaway plays Celine and Jessica Chastain plays Alice, with Anders Danielsen Lie, Josh Charles, Caroline Lagerfelt and Alexander Blaise in supporting roles.

The film was directed by Benoît Delhomme, working from a screenplay by Sarah Conradt, and was produced in Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States. Hathaway and Chastain served as producers alongside Kelly Carmichael. It runs 94 minutes and was released in January 2024. Its worldwide box office came to about 3 million US dollars, a modest return. On IMDb it holds 6.3 out of 10 from roughly 24,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.8 from around 710 votes. A film critics' rating of 5.5 out of 10 from 33 reviews places it below both audience scores.