As the trailer for “American Woman” says, having your child go missing is truly a mother’s worst nightmare. And in the new drama, audiences will see just what happens to a mother that is on a mission to find out where her missing daughter is.
But this isn’t the set up for some sort of “Taken”-style thriller. No, “American Woman” is a drama about how the loss of a child, even one that is grown, can lead a mother to go to extremes and risk her own sanity to find out what happened.
Though the film does feature an amazing performance from its star, our critic, who saw the film at last year’s TIFF, wasn’t a huge fan, saying the film “foolishly decides to lay its interests on Deb’s terrible taste in men rather than her daughter’s disappearance. Once the case is reopened in the final stretch we do feel reinvested in the story, but it’s a question of too little too late as so much time was wasted on the way to our destination.”
“American Woman” is directed by Jake Scott (son of Ridley), who is probably best known for his extensive music video work, as well as his 2010 feature film, “Welcome to the Rileys.” The film’s cast, which is said to have great performances across the board, includes Sienna Miller, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Paul, and Amy Madigan.
“American Woman” will arrive in theaters on June 14.
Here’s the synopsis:
Set in rural Pennsylvania, Deb Callahan’s (Sienna Miller) life is changed forever when her teenage daughter mysteriously disappears. Deb is left to raise her young grandson and navigates the trials and tribulations of subsequent years, until a long-awaited discovery of the truth is revealed.