Moms in the movies: 10 films that capture the many sides of motherhood

It’s one of the toughest jobs on the planet, the pay is lousy, and there are no days off. So why are millions signing up every day? There can be a lot of joy packed into this ruthless job description—and while the work can be brutal, it can also be fulfilling and life-defining in a way that no 9-5 ever can. It’s also one of the most fascinating roles to watch on the big screen. Film has long captured not only the ferocious love and nurturing bonds of maternal love, but also the complicated relationships and the quiet strength found in becoming (or choosing not to become) someone’s mom.

So this Mother’s Day, honor the many shapes caregiving can take with Kanopy’s Mother’s Day film collection—stories of how these nurturers rise, stumble, sacrifice, and endure for the people they love most.

Maid in Manhattan
2002 | 1hr 45min
Featuring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes & Stanley Tucci

A romantic fairy tale with real stakes! This working single mom dares to imagine more for herself.

Written by John Hughes, this is the story of Marisa Ventura, a single mother born and bred in the boroughs of New York City who works as a maid in a first-class Manhattan hotel. By a twist of fate and mistaken identity, Marisa meets Christopher, a handsome heir to a political dynasty who believes that she’s a guest at the hotel. Destiny throws the unlikely pair together for one night, but when Marisa’s true identity is revealed, the two find that they are worlds apart, even though the distance separating them is just a subway ride between Manhattan and the Bronx.

She’s Having a Baby
1988 | 1hr 45min
Featuring Kevin Bacon, Alex Baldwin & Elizabeth McGovern

The decision to become a parent can reshape you—especially when adulthood arrives before you feel ready.

Another film from John Hughes—this time, a romantic comedy about an aspiring writer who faces up to the responsibilities of marriage and family. Despite the misgivings he pours out to best friend, Jake Briggs marries high-school sweetheart Kristy. After an abortive attempt at graduate school in New Mexico, the couple settle in suburban Chicago. A few years later, Kristy decides to stop taking her birth-control pills—and tells Jake about it three months later. Plagued by doubts, unfulfilled ambitions, and images of a fantasy girl he once spotted in a club, Jake resists the idea of fatherhood.

Motherhood
2009 | 1hr 25min
Featuring Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards & Minnie Driver

Comedic relief for anyone who’s ever felt stretched too thin.

An urban comedy-drama set over one frantic day in Manhattan, overwhelmed mother and aspiring writer Eliza Welsh struggles to plan her young daughter’s birthday party while juggling deadlines, domestic chaos, and her own fading ambitions. With distracted husband Avery offering little help and best friend Sheila providing blunt support, Eliza spirals through a series of comic mishaps.

In Our Mothers’ Gardens
2021 | 1hr 21min

If you’re in the mood for a documentary, this intimate examination includes interviews with #MeToo founder Tarana Burke; The Roots and Chris Rock tour manager Tina Farris; NPR’s Senior Director for Programming Yolanda Sangweni, and more.

This documentary celebrates the strength and resiliency of Black women and Black families through the complex, and oftentimes humorous, relationship between mothers and daughters. The film pays homage to Black maternal ancestors while examining the immediate and critical importance of self-care, and the healing tools necessary for Black communities to thrive. 

Mother’s Day
2016 | 1hr 58min
Featuring Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Jason Sudeikis & Jennifer Aniston

A crowd‑pleaser with a killer cast that celebrates the ways families—chosen and biological—come together.

From the director of Pretty Woman comes a feel-good comedy about the intersecting lives of four families over a crazy week leading up to Mother's Day.

Mom is a Match
2022 | 1hr 33min
Featuring Juan Grandinetti, Antonio Pagudo & Malena Alterio

A playful reminder that moms have inner lives too.

Dani and his sister Milena will embark on the delirious adventure of trying to spoil their mother’s flings, and will go all out when the woman starts a more serious love affair with an Argentine boytoy, since the siblings are convinced that he will only make her suffer. However, as it turns out their strategies don’t have the desired effect. In fact, nothing will work out as they expect.

The Guilt Trip
2012 | 1hr 35min
Featuring Barba Streisand & Seth Rogen

Every mom needs a laugh! This road-trip comedy is based on a real-life trip by the screenwriter and his mother.

Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen are the perfect comedy duo as they embark on one mother of a road trip! The plan for a quick stop at Mom’s takes a sudden turn when an impulse compels Andy to invite his mother, Joyce, on an 8-day, 3,000 mile, journey across the country. But the farther they go, the closer they get and Andy may realize that they have more in common than he ever imagined.

Call the Midwife
2012 | 7 Seasons

This long-running series illuminates motherhood in all its forms—joyful, heartbreaking, and profoundly human.

Set in the 1950s, this series is a moving and intimate insight into the world of midwifery and family life in London's East End. We are introduced to the local community through the eyes of young nurse Jenny Lee as she lives and works as a midwife alongside the Nuns of the Order of St. Raymond of Nonnatus.

Fitting In
2023 | 1hr 45min
Featuring Maddie Ziegler, Emily Hampshire & Djouliet Amara

This recent release explores how moms and daughters navigate bodily autonomy and when expectations around motherhood get disrupted.

This semi-autobiographical feature written and directed by Molly McGlynn is an irreverent, coming-of-age comedy that follows 16-year-old Lindy, who is unexpectedly diagnosed with a reproductive condition. The news upends Lindy’s plans to have sex, her views on womanhood and sexuality, and her relationship with her mother. Most importantly, it changes her own relationship with herself.

Losing Isaiah
1995 | 1hr 46min
Featuring Halle Berry & Jessica Lange

This emotionally complex drama asks: What truly makes a mother?

Lange plays an adoptive mother who gives an abandoned child a new chance at life. Berry, in a remarkable portrayal heralded as her dramatic breakthrough, is the birth mother who cleans up her life and sets out to reclaim the child. Samuel L. Jackson portrays her firebrand attorney.

*Access to films may vary.

RELATED READ: Our favorite fictional moms to read & watch this Mother’s Day