Mothers’ Instinct (2024) is a psychological thriller draped in 1960s domestic elegance, where the pristine surface of suburban life hides festering grief, jealousy, and unspoken dread. A remake of the 2018 Belgian film Duelles, this American adaptation is elevated by the riveting performances of Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway — two powerhouse actresses portraying women unraveling under the weight of maternal guilt and suspicion.
Alice (Chastain) and Céline (Hathaway) are picture-perfect neighbors and best friends. Their lives are parallel — elegant homes, doting husbands, sons who play together like brothers. But when a sudden tragedy strikes, the harmony shatters. One woman’s loss becomes the other’s burden, and from that emotional fracture grows a slow, suffocating sense of unease. Is grief making them paranoid, or is something more sinister at play?
Benoît Delhomme, known primarily for his work as a cinematographer, directs with a painter’s eye. The visuals are lush and stylized, bathed in soft pastels and golden light that contrast sharply with the growing psychological tension. Every frame is curated, much like the lives the women try to maintain — perfect, orderly, yet on the verge of collapse.
Chastain is taut and controlled, while Hathaway delivers a devastating, emotionally raw performance that teeters between heartbreak and hysteria. Their dynamic — once tender, then mistrustful, eventually explosive — anchors the film’s atmosphere of slow-burning paranoia.
Mothers’ Instinct isn’t a thriller in the conventional sense. It unfolds with restraint, relying on mood, glances, and implication rather than action. But beneath its stylish veneer lies a chilling exploration of maternal obsession, emotional rivalry, and the fragility of female friendship under pressure.
A visually sumptuous and psychologically intense domestic thriller, Mothers’ Instinct is a slow, elegant descent into grief-soaked madness — powered by two fearless performances.
