Directed and co-written by Craig David Wallace Motherly is a 2021 hostage thriller that mixes murder and motherly love to create its twisted story. It may give off the air of being a Lifetime channel attempt at a horror movie, with the estranged husband plot device and the mother and daughter starting over in a new home, but after the pleasantries are had, Wallace soon unleashes knives, guns, and pliers unto the script to up the ante of this thriller.

Motherly stars Lora Burke (For the Sake of Vicious, read our review here) as Kate, a woman dealing with the pressures of being under the witness protection program and raising her 9-year-old daughter Beth (Tessa Kozma). Under the careful watch of Officer Hal (Colin Paradine), Kate and Beth are moved into a rural home in the aftermath of a murder trial that resulted in her husband being convicted of killing a young girl. One night, old acquaintances Lewis (Nick Smyth, For the Sake of Vicious) and Mary (Kristen MacCulloch, Psycho Gorman) descend upon their home, dissatisfied with the results of the trial and demanding the truth in order to settle the murder once and for all.

At first, or at least on the surface, Motherly seemed like the typical run of the mill home invasion thriller that seems to get produced like clockwork these days, however, Motherly‘s writers came up with a script that packs a one-two-punch of twists and turns. I am sure it will be divisive, pitting those in the “won’t somebody please think of the children” camp vs. those in “the kids aren’t alright” camp. It was the film’s youngest star, Tessa Kozma, in her theatrical debut who stole the show in a very mature performance from start to finish as the strong-willed daughter, Beth. The film thankfully had a cast list that was reigned in on numbers, allowing each character to feel fully formed within the plot, carried forth by the cast who gave performances that felt truly authentic in their shining moments.

Motherly‘s harrowing scenes of hide-and-seek with hostages against kidnappers had my heart racing, and its heartfelt scenes of a mother giving her all to raise her daughter in the midst of family upheaval should hit home with anyone who understands the unconditional love that comes with motherhood. Another loop along this emotional roller coaster was a small dose of paranoia and mystery, a feeling mainly garnered by the frequent red herrings hooked to the plot. My only real gripe about the movie is that the red herrings are not set up in a way that the audience could guess at, as we are deliberately led in one direction rather than the truth being revealed in an ‘ah, of course’ moment, but otherwise, this movie is a winner as far as well-produced, scripted, and acted film.

In short, Motherly has all of the things that one could ask for in a thriller — murder, crime mysteries, plot twists, revenge, a mother on a mission to protect her daughter at all costs, and I believe even a couple of homages thrown in there from horror classics. The pacing is perfect as the dialogue and action never dipped or waned, and no characters or conversations felt unnecessary to the plot, though it could be argued that the final body count may have been one too many. Though the mother-daughter home invasion premise feels well-done and bland at this point, Motherly sprinkled in some unexpected bitterness that surprisingly went down easily, as if it were sweet.

7.25 out of 10