The Good Mother ★★★

IT’S not going to win awards or attract big audiences, but The Good Mother is a taut and moody crime drama worth seeking out.

Released in 2023, it’s the third feature from director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte; not a household name but did direct Margot Robbie in 2019’s Dreamland.

That film was very uneven but The Good Mother is a more assured effort that benefits greatly from the casting of three strong actors.

Hilary Swank plays a journalist whose son is murdered while Olivia Cooke is his former girlfriend.

Cooke’s character Paige and Marisa (Swank) is wary of her, suspecting she may have been involved in the circumstances leading to the murder.

But the pair form an alliance of sorts trying to track down the truth which leads them to a tale of drugs, power and corruption.

Jack Reynor is good as usual in a key role and the setting of Albany in upstate New York also provides a point of difference.

Worth a look.

Watched on Netflix.