The Good Mother (2013 film)
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| The Good Mother | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama Psychological drama |
| Written by | Shane Mathers Matthew Riopelle |
| Directed by | Richard Gabai |
| Starring | Helen Slater Patrick Fabian Samantha Bailey Camille Cregan Ron Melendez |
| Music by | Sean Murray |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Mike Farrell Marvin Minoff |
| Producer(s) | Michael Amato |
| Production location(s) | United States |
| Cinematography | Scott Peck |
| Editor(s) | Jeff Murphy |
| Running time | 84 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Lifetime Movie Network Check Entertainment FishCorb Films |
| Distributor | Lifetime (Canadian TV channel) (Canada) Lifetime (TV network) |
| Release | |
| Original release | June 8, 2013 |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
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The Good Mother is a 2013 American psychological drama made-for-television film about a charismatic parent with Munchausen by proxy who is caught poisoning her daughters by a family friend. The film was directed by Richard Gabai and stars Helen Slater, Patrick Fabian, Samantha Bailey, Camille Cregan and Ron Melendez. Released in the United States and Canada (under the Quebec French title La Bonne Mère), the film received mixed responses from critics, and became a regular airing feature on the Lifetime Movie Network.[1]
Plot[edit]
Jillian, a girl from a broken home, is picked up for shoplifting food by local police until Cheryl, the mother of Jillian's best friend Melanie, intervenes and decides to take Jillian in as her own child for the time being. This is a bizarre decision on Cheryl's part, Jillian thinks, knowing that Melanie has been suffering lately from an unknown illness that Cheryl says is genetic. Melanie is pale, often bedridden, and eats only milkshakes given to her by Cheryl. Often, Jillian overhears gossip from nurses and neighbours who find Cheryl's behaviour off-putting and creepy; Jillian always tells them off, pointing out how hard it must be for Cheryl to have to live with such an ill child. Melanie collapses and is taken to a local hospital in critical condition, where she grasps Jillian's arm and demands that her friend protect her little sister, Hillary. Presuming Melanie to be delirious, Jillian agrees, only for Melanie to start seizing in her hospital bed, dying there while her father, sister and Cheryl sob openly. Cheryl is the loudest voice of grief, as she not only screams and cries but also blames the doctors for forcibly getting law enforcement involved to remove Melanie from the family household, which she argues exacerbated the girl's illness.
Things begin to seem more suspicious as Jillian considers the incident. Cheryl, a former doctor employed at the hospital until Melanie's illness, has no desire to return to work and Hillary is starting to show the same symptoms that her older sister suffered from. Cheryl is also fawned over with sympathy when she reveals to her friends that Hillary may have the same condition as Melanie. Jillian notices the milkshakes that Melanie drank are being made for Hillary, and she's plagued with nightmares wherein a ghostly apparition of the now deceased Melanie warns Jillian to be careful. Jillian takes some of the substance being fed to Hillary to her lab technician friend, Will, a boy recently out of rehab after cocaine usage. Will initially wants nothing to do with helping Jillian, fearing that he could lose his job over it, but he changes his mind when he hears that Hillary is becoming ill. Meanwhile, Cheryl becomes suspicious and begins to regard Jillian as a nuisance, becoming enraged when Jillian tries to warn Scott, Cheryl's husband and the father to Melanie and Hillary, of the suspected medical concerns. Jillian is taken to jail after Cheryl frames her for drug theft, where her estranged biological mother comforts her and the two reunite. Jillian's mother reveals that she is clean and sober, and they both agree that they should try to start over as a new family together again.
Hillary's condition takes a turn for the worse now that Jillian is out of the house, with Cheryl forcibly making her drink more of the milkshakes than she had given to Melanie, all with the same apparent ingredients. Scott lifts Hillary from bed and tries to take her to the hospital while Cheryl claws at his arms and tries to pry the young girl away from him. Meanwhile, Jillian gets a telephone call from Will revealing that the special milkshakes for Cheryl's daughters contain high amounts of ricin, which is poisoning Hillary and which probably led to Melanie's eventual death. Hurrying to the hospital, Jillian and Will reveal the information to Scott. Now that her abuse has been discovered, Cheryl attempts suicide by injecting herself with a needle in the buttocks that contains ricin, but Jillian removes the needle and stays by the woman's side, pleading for doctors to come and help her.
The film's ending reveals that Jillian now lives with her biological mother, and that Will got to keep his lab tech job. Scott and Hillary are moving to a new state, hoping to start over. Hillary gives Jillian her email address so that the two girls can keep in touch. When asked where Cheryl is, Scott reveals that the woman is in a secured mental hospital, getting psychiatric treatment for Munchausen by proxy. This is ambiguous, as a final cut shows Cheryl in the hospital, obsessively gazing at imagery of her children and unable to let go of this ephemera.
Cast[edit]
- Helen Slater as Cheryl
- Meaghan Martin as Melanie
- Patrick Fabian as Scott
- Samantha Bailey as Hillary
- Camille Cregan as Jillian
- Ron Melendez as Will
- Lesli Kay as Janet
- James Eckhouse as Dr. Cullen
- Deidrie Henry as Nurse Williams
- Jean Louisa Kelly as Rachel
- Tim Herzog as Paramedic James
- Beverly D'Angelo as Judge Kennedy
- Christopher Dempsey as Paramedic Cooper
- Jackie Debatin as Brooke
- Matthew Ashford as Peter
Reception[edit]
The Good Mother received a mixed reception from critics upon release. The Movie Scene praised the film's aesthetic appeal and cinematography, but criticized the film for its heavy-handed plot and "ridiculous" scenes, which included a police chase with helicopters in pursuit of a minor child shoplifting.[2] The Good Mother was released on DVD and in streaming format by Lifetime Movie Network, and distributed for airing by its television subsidiaries, in 2013.
References[edit]
- ↑ "The Good Mother". www.imdb.com. The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ↑ "The Good Mother (2013): Lethal Parenting". www.themoviescene.co.uk. The Movie Scene. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
External links[edit]
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