Directed By Niclas Larsson

Starring – Ewan McGregor, Rhys Ifans, Taylor Russell

The Plot – Three children (McGregor, Ifans, Lara Flynn Boyle) are brought together when their mother (Ellen Burstyn) refuses to move from a couch in a furniture store.

This film is currently not rated

Mother, Couch (2024) | Trailer | Niclas Larsson (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

Psychologically subversive films have made a comfortable residence in the mainstream, especially with the success of films like ‘Beau is Afraid’ and ‘Problemista’ depicting internal anxiety, and while ‘Mother, Couch’ doesn’t quite reach the detailed depth or analysis in journey as these films, it’s never the less a stylistically impulsive panic attack, with much to say about toxic familial ties, and how difficult they can be to effectively break away from. Larsson, in his feature length directorial debut, channels a deep admiration for the uncomfortable atmosphere in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Punch Drunk Love’, with the same kind of overlapping dialogue between characters, disorienting editing practices obscuring the line of detectability between past and present, and a percussive dominated score from Christopher Bear, which constantly drives the unnecessary urgency of every sequence, all with Larsson’s own expressive direction catering itself to comedy in the most bizarrely surreal kind of circumstances. As expected, Larsson doesn’t always hit perfectly from the field, but when his film does occasionally land, it vividly fleshes out the jadedness of David’s dreaded disposition, with a life of his own constantly put on hold for an overbearing mother and distant siblings, whose nonchalant ignorance makes us invest in him faithfully, even if those in the audience can’t familiarize themselves with the daily obstacle that is his life. Though the film is terribly limited in storytelling scope, at a brief 90 minute run time, it does send audiences home fulfilled with the larger-than-life scope of these fantastical sequences playing out before our very eyes, with such uniquely appealing methods of zeroing in on the thematic intention that effortlessly attains that air of unpredictable cinema that is such a rarity these days. Especially with the movie’s riveting climax, closure is given to David in ways that are not only vital for the integrity of the character, but also emphasizing the ground-shaking, world-breaking feels of resolving such a long-standing issue, with an open-ended air of ambiguity to the film’s ending that I still found every bit hopeful as it is appropriate, without any of the conveniences that could overly humanize such a distinctly unique situation. Lastly, the performances from this gifted ensemble are fully on board for anything, especially McGregor, Russell, and Burstyn, who each articulate such a gravitas for tangible screen presence, each time they slip into frame. Burstyn definitely has the fewest on-screen opportunities, though when she does she’s an overbearing and unapologetic wet blanket that psychologically preys on David’s vulnerabilities, with perfection in deliveries that serve as the stake to drive the nail into the coffin of so many deeply personal and uncomfortable conversations. As for Russell, she continues to be this mesmerizing force of nature that lingers as the perennial peacekeeper to this family’s unraveling, with thought-provoking insight amid fortune cookie wisdom in dialogue that could feel annoying in weaker hands, but thrive under Taylor’s undeterred perseverance, which constantly prove something is emotionally deeper at foot than what her character is conveying at surface level. But it’s McGregor who steals the day as this uneasy hypochondriac protagonist in David, granting him not only a flattering change of pace from a majority of his laid-back and cunning roles, but also what might be his most challengingly rewarding performance to date. As McGregor continuously roles with the punches of an ever-changing situation, we come to find and even appreciate the tenderness and overwhelmed emphasis that he supplants to the character, and though he’s often the victim of conflicts that he constantly doesn’t see coming, and though the film is enamored with a surrealistically exaggerated outlining, it’s Ewan’s heart and humanity that keep him a compelling protagonist, with whom we spend a majority of the movie’s focus with.

NEGATIVES

Metaphors in elaborate sequences give the film expressive personality, but they also simultaneously halt its emotional depth, which gives the film an inevitably disconnected reality with the half of the audience who don’t subscribe to surrealistic cinema. As to where ‘Beau is Afraid’ never lost sight of the stakes to its character, the rushed storytelling and choppy sequencing totally undervalue these realities, in turn crafting not only a vapid void of tone-deaf emotionality to how the scenes and sequences are elicited, but also a shallow screenplay that strangely keeps us distant in the cryptic ambiguity that the film constantly ushers in. Unresolve is fine in a film if it pertains to the future, but in leaving certain aspects of characterization undeveloped, it leaves the extras feeling like excessive weight that the film could’ve easily trimmed from the finished product, with little to no deviation from David’s aforementioned dreaded disposition, which does grow a bit tediously repetitive by the film’s first half hour. Such an example persists in the dynamic between the siblings, which beyond what we’re told in outlining exposition from Burstyn’s motherly character, we never learn or experience how their distance or the uncovered secrets between them affects each of them personally, resulting in a surface level script that feels happy remaining one-dimensional. On top of this, while the film is framed and categorized as a comedy, i found the consistency of its effectiveness lacking, especially in both the film never goes dark enough to be considered a dark comedy, nor does anything feel funny when legitimate family drama is constantly taking shape. When I did laugh during the film, it came as a result of a character’s bewildering reaction to such strangely surreal circumstances, and not necessarily the material balancing cleverness and originality accordingly, leaving my experience mostly sedated throughout a film with so much elaborating creativity in the staging of its sequences, but little in the way of the material that its characters and audience respectively bounce off of. In addition, while the bountiful performances are aplenty in the aforementioned trio, the disappointing ones are just as apparent, with Ifans, Flynn Boyle, and sadly F. Murray Abraham used and abused with little lasting memory of their influence. The worst of these is definitely Lara Flynn Boyle, whom I’ve appreciated since her ‘Twin Peaks’ days, but here given about two sentences of dialogue and a few atmospherically establishing shots to play towards the uneasiness of the scenes she accompanies. Likewise, Ifans conjures a promising opening, but very few opportunities following it, which is all the more glaring when he is referred to as the charismatic one of the group, to which we rarely get to experience and interpret. It’s also not often where I get to mock a film for its production values, but primarily the wigs in the film are atrociously artificial and improper for the age groups depicted on the characters of Burstyn and Abraham. While it could be a metaphysical element of this film taking place in the mind of David, as could be evidenced by a few things, it doesn’t leave it any less awkward or distracting to the integrity of the scene, especially for how perfect it shines and flows for characters who are so obviously past the age of having hair like this. Finally, while the film only clocks in at a meager 90 minutes, its pacing feels a bit strained, particularly during the movie’s second act. Because the plot of this film has it mostly taking place in a one stage setting of a furniture store, the environmental aspects within character claustrophobia are rarely ever utilized in ways that presents a compelling angle into so many of these characters forced to confront their feelings, and simultaneously the evading of the store outside of the premises leaves the gimmick feeling a bit unwarranted, especially since the most exciting scenes of the film, for my money, take place outside of it.

OVERALL
‘Mother, Couch’ is an occasionally stimulating psychologically subversive debut from Niclas Larsson, but ultimately hindered by metaphorical renderings so exaggerated and surreal that it wipes away humanity and heart from the sentiment. While McGregor gives a career-defining turn as a hypochondriac, and the technical merits immerse us in the overwhelming plight of the protagonist, the script simply doesn’t dive deep enough into these characters and dynamics, leaving it in the shadow of predecessor films about the condition that combined meaning with its madness.

My Grade: 5/10 or D