Immovable objects meet unstoppable forces. Netflix may not be the best platform when it comes to promoting its original titles, but when that original film happens to feature a retired assassin played by Jennifer Lopez, odds are you don’t need to put a ton of money into the marketing budget. Audiences have been hungry for more Lopez ever since her scene-stealing turn in 2019’s “Hustlers,” and the seeds planted in that performance – and the subsequent media cycles it inspired – are being paid off in 2023 with films like “Shotgun Wedding,” and now, “The Mother.”
In the first trailer for “The Mother,” Jennifer Lopez plays a deadly female assassin who comes out of hiding to protect the daughter that she gave up years before while on the run from dangerous men.
“The Mother” is directed by Niki Caro, whose career began with more character-driven work like “Whale Rider” and “North Country” before launching into the blockbuster arena with 2020’s “Mulan.” The film also stars a damn intriguing supporting cast of actors like recent Academy Award nominee Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”), Omari Hardwick (“Army of the Dead”), and Gael García Bernal.
On the surface, “The Mother” seems like a modern mashup of “John Wick” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” Geena Davis’s cult classic — or if you are already a fan of ’90s action movies, classic-classic — action film directed by Renny Harlin and written by Shane Black. Sure, this film might lack the amnesia angle, but in the annals of movies about violent hitwomen learning to protect the people they love, comparisons to that movie might just be the best possible outcome. Lopez has always been a stalwart action star, and this film promises to remind us that recent outings like “Shotgun Wedding” are just scratching the surface of what she’s still capable of offering.
“The Mother” is scheduled to hit Netflix on May 12, 2023, fittingly on Mother’s Day weekend. Fingers crossed that Netflix will include at least a short theatrical distribution window for this one, too.