I Killed My Mother

2013

I Killed My Mother

Critics Consensus

I Killed My Mother's raw, blunt coming-of-age narrative marks an impressive debut for filmmaker Xavier Dolan.

83%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 23

81%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 3,210
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Movie Info

Hubert Minel, a brash 17 year old, dislikes his mother intensely. He gauges her with contempt, only seeing her out-of-date sweater, her kitschy décor and the vile bread crumbs that lodge in the corners of her noisy mouth. Below the surface of these irritating traits, lie the ingrained mechanisms that his mother has always cultivated so dearly - manipulation and guilt. Hubert, confused and torn by a love-hate relationship that obsesses him more and more each day, wanders in and out of an adolescence that is both marginal an typical, combining artistic discovery, openness to friendship, ostracism, and sex. All the while, he is consumed by his all encompassing contempt for this woman he somehow once loved. -- (C) Regent

Cast

Anne Dorval
as Chantale Lemming
Suzanne Clément
as Julie Cloutier
François Arnaud
as Antonin Rimbaud
Patricia Tulasne
as Hélène Rimbaud
Niels Schneider
as Éric
Monique Spaziani
as Denise/Dédé
Pierre Chagnon
Emile Mailhot
Pascale Audrey
Laurent-Christophe De Ruelle
Mariflore Véronneau
Manuel Tadros
Johanne-Marie Tremblay
Hugolin Chevrette-Landesque
Francis Ducharme
Bianca Gervais
Benoit Gouin
Xavier Dolan
as Hubert Minel
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Critic Reviews for I Killed My Mother

All Critics (23) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (19) | Rotten (4)

  • It's a strong debut from one of cinema's most exciting young talents, and the chance to finally see where it all started shouldn't be missed.

    August 6, 2019 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

    Matthew Lucas

    From the Front Row
    Top Critic

  • I Killed My Mother is styled as cinema about cinema-Dolan wears his influences on his sleeve, from Jean-Luc Godard to Rimbaud. But this is ultimately a drama of flesh-and-blood relationships, not ideas.

    July 26, 2019 | Full Review…

    Brian D. Johnson

    Maclean's Magazine
    Top Critic

  • The art of film is not there to soften the pain of abuse and cool the raging quarrels between mother and son. Exposing its ugliness and intensity is the very thing that allows for cathartic closure.

    May 21, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

    Tomas Trussow

    The Lonely Film Critic
    Top Critic

  • Dolan's vision, however distracted, remains strong ( ... ) As a writer, director, producer, and actor, he throws himself into the film's disjointed spaces, highlighting the ways in which multiple and contradictory states can be inhabited simultaneously

    November 13, 2013 | Full Review…

    Genevieve Yue

    Film Comment Magazine
    Top Critic

  • Wonderful performances, poignant story, light tone and nifty visuals add up to a smart art-house package. Should hold appeal well beyond the gay crowd.

    March 14, 2013 | Full Review…

    Doris Toumarkine

    Film Journal International
    Top Critic

  • As a director, Mr. Dolan has a freewheeling style, and he's self-dramatizing enough to want to call attention to it without being too much of a visual show-off.

    March 13, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

    Rachel Saltz

    New York Times
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (23)

Audience Reviews for I Killed My Mother

  • Apr 25, 2015
    La fin est dà (C)cevante un peu :(
    Marc-André B Super Reviewer
  • Apr 24, 2015
    No, Hubert Minel(Xavier Dolan, who also wrote and directed) did not kill his mother, Chantale Lemming(Anne Dorval). That was something he wrote for a high school writing assignment. That does not make her any happier when she finds out, though. However, after things calm down, which is a relative state for this normally bickering pair, she offers to let him get his own apartment at the age of 16. But once he does find an apartment very much to his liking, she reneges on the deal. "I Killed My Mother" is a movie about communication between two people who have trouble expressing themselves to each other. As far as Hubert goes, he is at an age when he is just starting to define who he is and who he wants to be and does not feel supported by his mother. As far as Xavier Dolan goes, he shows promise as a director, especially in his use of two-shots. But ironically enough he has trouble communicating with the audience about his specific point of view. To quote Hubert's teacher(Suzanne Clement), who talks to their mother like this? Which is a question the movie never satisfactorily answers.
    Walter M Super Reviewer
  • Feb 17, 2014
    A remarkable film from an 19 year old. Insightful and unflinchingly critical. Beautifully shot.
    Christian C Super Reviewer
  • Feb 02, 2013
    I think I'm late to the party. Took too many years to finally decide to sit down and watch a Dolan movie, the young director prodigy from Quebec - my very own country - and I have to admit that the little fucker is extremely talented. He's going to do great things.
    Hugo S Super Reviewer
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