Four Mothers

Darren Thornton's 2025 Irish film adapts Gianni Di Gregorio's Mid-August Lunch. Edward, a gay novelist caring for his elderly mother, is on the brink of literary success; as pressure mounts for a US book tour, his friends leave for an impromptu Pride holiday in Spain and deposit their own mothers on his doorstep. Edward is left alone with four elderly women. The comedy comes from the absurdity of the situation and the drama from the question of who carries the burden of care: within families it usually lands on whoever resists least, and Edward is exactly that person. Fionnula Flanagan's performance makes the mother neither charming nor monstrous. James McArdle's Edward is convincing as a man postponing his own life. Who it's for: viewers who like Irish cinema, drama about caregiving and queer character portraits. Who it's not for: anyone wanting fast narrative, or for whom ageing and care will land too personally.