Mother, Couch

Ewan McGregor, Rhys Ifans, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Ellen Burstyn star in this sublime and eccentric story about the grand expanse that parents occupy within our lives and the family that has to come together to help you find your way.

While David (McGregor) is at a furniture store with his mother (Burstyn), she pulls the tarp off a covered couch and plops herself down. With a mountain of obligations waiting around the corner, he’s anxious to leave, but she refuses to get up. David’s brother Gruffudd (Ifans, also at the Festival in NYAD) and sister Linda (Flynn Boyle) seem less bothered about the situation, casually tending to matters that seem infuriatingly unimportant. David becomes pushy while trying his best to be gentle, recognizing that his mother’s odd behaviour may be a sign of psychosis. As he’s forced to take a step back, acquainting himself with the store owner (F. Murray Abraham) and his daughter (Taylor Russell), the stress dream starts to expand around him. Why won’t his mother just tell him what’s wrong? And why were they here in the first place?

This debut feature by director Niclas Larsson introduces us to his unique voice with a surrealism that builds to an arresting series of images. McGregor gives a penetrating performance, aided by the warmth of the stunning cast, as Mother, Couch reveals itself to be a story about the chaos of those unshakeable moments in one’s life that make you unmoored just long enough to find new land.

CAMERON BAILEY

Official Selection, 2023 Toronto International Film Festival