‘Mother, Couch’ Review: Mama Won’t Move in Surreal Drama Featuring Ewan McGregor as the Exhausted Son
variety.comJ. Kim Murphy What happens when an immovable object meets a fatigued force that keeps whacking its head against said object in defeated frustration?
That’s the question proposed by Niclas Larsson’s debut feature, “Mother, Couch.” Executive produced by and starring the once-boyish, now often forlorn Ewan McGregor, the film follows David, a frumpy middle-aged family man whose mother (Ellen Burstyn) plants herself on an old couch in the storage room of a furniture outlet, flatly refusing to vacate the premises.
Though Larsson builds from the increasingly existential dilemma in striking ways, “Mother, Couch” finds itself caught running in place before grasping for sentimentality in its final minutes.
The central kerfuffle kicks off as David surveys the far-flung outlet Bob’s Furniture, tagging along with his older brother, Gruffudd (Rhys Ifans).
Read more on variety.com