Jennifer Lopez has become an action star in her most recent film, The Mother which was released by Netflix on Mother’s Day. Fitting isn’t it? Less schmaltzy and more gory, Lopez takes on the role of a compromised assassin, braving numerous foes in order to rescue her daughter. The film just landed on Netflix and has already battled its way to the number one spot on the platform’s Top Ten chart.
Netflix has had a little bit of a slump in the last few months with films not quite pulling in the same viewing figures as some of their past projects. Things are looking up somewhat though with The Mother, which sees Lopez step out of her usual fare and bulk up to play an unnamed military operative known simply as ‘the mother.’
Things go south for her character after she becomes romantically involved with two less-than-straight-laced candidates and becomes pregnant, before discovering that the unsavory characters are involved in child trafficking. She reaches out to the FBI to become an informant, but in the process endangers her life and the life of her unborn child. After giving birth she gives the child up to live as normal a life as possible… that is until her past catches up with her.
The film has enjoyed close to 84 million hours viewed since its release on May 12, with the film in second place, Tom Hank’s A Man Called Otto not even getting close, falling just shy of 20 million hours watched this week between May 8 and May 14. The Mother, however, has released to middling critical reviews, with many praising Lopez’s jump back into an action role, but feeling the film relies too heavily on the genre’s usual cliches to be considered a thoroughly new take.
You can watch Lopez in action in The Mother, streaming on Netflix now.