A Mother’s Fury — A Mother’s Fury(VOD)
A Mother’s Fury is a family drama-come-low key crime thriller focusing on the abhorrent act of Sorority hazing. It’s a well-acted, troubling, and often emotionally moving picture- which certainly pulls you into its story, though I’m not completely sold on the turn the film in makes in its last quarter. Here from Signature Entertainment is a VOD release of the film.
A Mother’s Fury (aka Rushed) is a 2021 American film- which was helmed by Danish female director Vibeke Muasya. In all, she has thirteen credits to her name-taking in seven shorts/ docs, and five feature lengths- these go from dating drama The Take-Away Bride (2005), family drama-thriller Lost in Africa (2010), and overprotective mother thriller Twisted (2022).
The film focuses on the O'Brien’s- an Irish Catholic middle-class family who live in the suburbs. Their oldest son Jimmy (Jay Jay Warren) has recently started at a city college, and his parents are keen for him to part of one the colleges fraternity- as his father Jim, Terminator 2/ X-files Robert Patrick was part of one in his college days. Unfortunately, the frat president Steven (Jake Weary) is an arrogant and unpleasant bully, and he turns his focus on young Jimmy. He first belittles him, then urinates on him in a hyped-up hazing ceremony, before finally drugging his drink, which ends up killing him.
As you can imagine the O'Brien's are devastated with the passing of Jimmy, but the most badly hit is his normal outspoken and brash mother Barbara (Siobhan Fallon Hogan) who has a chain-smoking breakdown. Things are made worse when the college comes back to report that they had no blame in Jimmy’s death. But late one-night she comes across a series of news reports regarding numerous hazing deaths- where the colleges deny responsibility, but the parents insist there is doubt in their sons and daughters' passing. So, Barbara shakes herself up, and decides to hit the road across the US to meet and interview these parents- with an end focus of going to Washington to present the films to her husband's former frat brother who is now a senator.
The film begins with a mix of the family's day-to-day life, and the increasingly nasty tormenting of young Jimmy by frat president Steven. Then we focus on the party where Jimmy is drugged/ fed drink and dies- with Steven refusing to initial call an ambulance- and the emotional aftershock at his death. When we move into the travelling across the states gathering the interviews part of the film, this is most powerful and at times generally moving. In the last quarter, we have a sudden turn, which I won’t detail/ spoil here- but I found it somewhat awkward/ jarring, and I’m not sure if it feels total convincing/ well done- which is a pity, as for most of A Mother’s Fury I was very much engrossed, and at times moved.
Acting-wise all of the cast is spot on, creating (largely) believable/filled-out characters. Siobhan Fallon Hogan as lost her son mother, really shifts through a series of emotions and does so with real conviction. Robert Patrick works well as the family's father- giving a good balance of trying to hold it all together, and authentic moments of emotion. Jake Weary is most effective as the cocky, and nasty frat president. With the supporting cast all doing very well too.
I think the subject of Sorority hazing is a powerful and thought-provoking theme for a film, and for its first three quarters, A Mother’s Fury very much had me held/sold. I’m just on the fence about the sudden turn in its tail. So, in finishing, I’d say if you enjoy well-acted/ largely believable family drama/ light thriller, I’d certainly give this a try.