MumLife
2022 · 15m · Australia
Directed by Ruby Challenger
Genres: comedy, drama, musical
Tones: absurdist, melancholic, tender, tense
Sarah, a first-time mother struggling to connect with her newborn, is pushed to her limits when her Instagram-famous best friend throws her a surprise 30th birthday party. The film explores the emotional hardships of early motherhood through five original indie/pop musical numbers.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Post-natal anxiety as pop musical. Five original songs about exhaustion and Instagram-best-friends is either inspired or insufferable, and the comp stack (La La Land, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) makes me suspect the latter.
Five original songs structuring post-natal anxiety is an ambitious framework, and Challenger's choice of subverting the glossy musical register is defensible. La La Land is a long shadow; I suspect this lands closer to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend than to revelation.
Five original indie/pop musical numbers as the actual emotional-state windows for postnatal anxiety is the right reason to use the musical form — it's not decoration, it's the diagnostic apparatus. 15 minutes; subverting La La Land glossiness for raw subject matter is the bet.
Reviews
Authentically depicts contradictions in early parenthood — simultaneously joyful and daunting — culminating in a touching moment of love and serenity.
A celebration of mums everywhere... Ruby Challenger is such a generous person and a wonderful storyteller and filmmaker.
Festivals
- Cannes Film Festival 2022
- Sydney Film Festival 2022
- Revelation Perth International Film Festival 2023