True Mothers
Japan's Official Submission to the Academy Awards
After a long and unsuccessful struggle to get pregnant, Satoko and her husband decide to adopt a child. Over the next six years, the middle-class couple and their young son Asato settle into a comfortable, albeit routine, life. The family’s orderly existence is shattered by the arrival of Hikari, a young woman claiming to be Asato’s biological mother, demanding his return. As tensions mount, Satoko grows more and more emboldened to defend her family.
Weaving together multiple timelines and genres with a contemplative pacing and keen sense of place, hallmarks of Kawase’s work, TRUE MOTHERS is “is a deeply touching celebration of women who assume duties of love, support and compassion” (Awards Watch).
Director & Cast
- Director: Naomi Kawase
- Starring: Hiromi Nagasaku
- Starring: Arata Iura
- Starring: Aju Makita
- Starring: Reo Sato
Now Playing
In Theater Playdates
Venue |
City |
State |
Begins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hirschfield International Film Series | Middlebury | VT | January 30, 2021 |
Now Playing
Virtual Theater Screenings
Venue |
City |
State |
Begins |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Loft Cinema
|
Tucson | AZ | January 29, 2021 |
| Los Angeles | CA | January 29, 2021 | |
|
Palm Springs Cultural Center
|
Palm Springs | CA | January 29, 2021 |
|
San Diego Cinema Society
|
San Diego | CA | January 29, 2021 |
|
Rafael Film Center
|
San Rafael | CA | January 29, 2021 |
| Santa Ana | CA | January 29, 2021 | |
|
South Bay Film Society
|
Torrance | CA | January 29, 2021 |
|
The Dairy Center for the Arts
|
Boulder | CO | January 29, 2021 |
|
SIE Film Center
|
Denver | CO | January 29, 2021 |
|
Coral Gables Art Cinema
|
Coral Gables | FL | January 29, 2021 |
| Fort Lauderdale | FL | January 29, 2021 | |
|
Tampa Theatre
|
Tampa | FL | January 29, 2021 |
|
Music Box Theatre
|
Chicago | IL | January 29, 2021 |
|
mama.film
|
Wichita | KS | January 29, 2021 |
|
The Brattle
|
Cambridge | MA | January 29, 2021 |
|
AFI Silver Theatre
|
Silver Spring | MD | January 29, 2021 |
|
Michigan Theater
|
Ann Arbor | MI | January 29, 2021 |
|
Detroit Institute of Arts
|
Detroit | MI | February 5, 2021 |
|
Parkway Theater
|
Minneapolis | MN | January 29, 2021 |
| Minneapolis | MN | January 29, 2021 | |
|
a/perture cinema
|
Winston Salem | NC | January 29, 2021 |
|
Montclair Film
|
Montclair | NJ | January 29, 2021 |
|
Angelika Anywhere
|
New York | NY | January 29, 2021 |
|
CineCina
|
New York | NY | January 29, 2021 |
|
Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center
|
Westhampton Beach | NY | January 29, 2021 |
|
Cleveland Cinematheque
|
Cleveland | OH | January 29, 2021 |
|
Oklahoma City Museum of Art
|
Oklahoma City | OK | January 29, 2021 |
|
Salem Cinema
|
Salem | OR | January 29, 2021 |
|
Pocono Cinema
|
East Stroudsburg | PA | January 29, 2021 |
|
cinéSPEAK
|
Philadelphia | PA | January 29, 2021 |
|
Austin Film Society
|
Austin | TX | January 29, 2021 |
|
Grand Cinema
|
Tacoma | WA | January 29, 2021 |
|
The Kiggins Theatre
|
Vancouver | WA | January 29, 2021 |
About Virtual Cinema
Virtual cinema is video-on-demand streaming brought to you by Film Movement in partnership with local independent movie theaters, which allows you to stream first-run movies and revivals of classic films at home on your TV or on your mobile device prior to their availability on any other digital platform. The proceeds from your streaming rental is shared between Film Movement and the presenting art house movie theater of your choice, so all ticket purchases help support independent cinema.
Learn MoreNeed assistance with Virtual Cinema? Visit our FAQ!
Virtual Cinema FAQTrailer
Photos
.jpg)
Reviews
- "True Mothers covers an impressive amount of narrative ground, morphing from social issue film to domestic drama, romantic melodrama, violent urban thriller and at last a quiet reflection of cathartic confrontation."
- "Naomi Kawase's best film in years, TRUE MOTHERS is a deeply touching celebration of women who assume duties of love, support and compassion."
- "The latest film from the prolific Japanese director Naomi Kawase is a rewarding drama which weaves together knotted maternal bonds and textured character portraits. An elegant, absorbing piece of storytelling, its universal themes and a tone which conveys empathy without tipping into sentimentality...."
- "True Mothers is one of Naomi Kawase's best films to date, a thoughtful drama about the shame associated with unconventional motherhood."
- "[T]he film shimmers with beauty and sadness.... “True Mothers” wows in the end with an emotional banger of an ending that’s a truly devastating convergence of all the film’s threads. Kawase ties everything together beautifully...."
- "The Japanese auteur Naomi Kawase has returned with another of her highly distinctive, tremulously sensitive movies...there is a sustained emotional seriousness in this movie, with committed performances."
- "True Mothers is a sensitive, thoughtful exploration of a subject that far too often collapses into melodramatic pastiche."
Golden Seashell
San Sebastian Film Festival
Gold Hugo
Chicago Int'l. Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
Toronto Int'l. Film Festival
Rome Film Festival
Busan Int'l. Film Festival
Philadelphia Film Festival