Mother, Couch Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Mother, Couch Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 28, 2025

Some may look at the cast of this film and wonder how such a starry if admittedly eclectic cohort didn't bring Mother, Couch more renown, or at least more mainstream renown, though the answer to that quandary is probably pretty easily found in the film itself, which is a very odd deconstruction of a dysfunctional family. The fact that all of the roiling internecine dynamic unfolds after the materfamilias (Ellyn Burstyn) plops herself down on a designer couch in a patently bizarre "furniture store" that seems to actually be a kind of metaphorical Purgatory (at best), and then refuses to leave, is only the first befuddling moment in an often almost David Lynchian narrative. That in turn sends her son David (Ewan McGregor) into panicked overdrive to get her out of the facility, not least due to the fact that he is expected at his daughter's birthday party with "grandma", and his wife Anne (Lake Bell) is not especially pleased David evidently can't extricate Mother (the character is never actually named) out of the store.

"Hell is other people" is an oft quoted aphorism from Sartre's No Exit, to which some wise guy might answer, "Especially if those people are family." The reference to No Exit is absolutely deliberate, because as mentioned above screenwriter and director Niclas Larsson (adapting a Swedish novel) seems to want to posit Oakbed's Furniture Store as a kind of metaphysical nether world which seems to have some kind of hidden purpose. Unfortunately Larsson never explicates what's going on very well, leaving the narrative a kind of morass that the viewer has to wade through. The bottom line is soon enough several of David's relatives, including brother Gruff (Rhys Ifans) and sister Linda (Lara Flynn Boyle) are also on hand, if intermittently, at the emporium trying (or not, as the case may be) to help David deal with the weird situation.

Also on hand are Taylor Russell as Bella, the sweet if maybe duplicitous daughter of the store owner. That role is played by F. Murray Abraham, who is also tasked with briefly offering that character's evident twin, in yet another gonzo plot detour that really makes little to no sense and adds nothing to the proceedings. That said, seeing F. Murray Abraham raise a threatening chainsaw over his head may lead some smart casting director to consider him for a future biopic about Elon Musk. The entire proceeding has been teetering precariously on the edge of magical realism, and it's probably no surprise that it indeed tips over (in more ways than one, considering water is involved) as the film wends its way to a completely peculiar conclusion. A coda offers no clarification other than an allusion to the fact that maybe David and his siblings have managed to find some kind of detente.

The film does offer some notable showcases for at least some of the cast. McGregor, Boyle and Burstyn in particular are standouts, with Boyle kind of stealing the film despite having a completely underwritten role.

My colleague Brian Orndorf was evidently a bit more positively disposed toward the film. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Mother, Couch Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mother, Couch is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The closing credits roll offers a "shot on Kodak film" listing, and I'm assuming this had a 2K DI. A lot of the interior material at the supposed furniture store has somewhat murky lighting, and the grading seems to have been deliberately skewed toward yellow, leaving the palette a bit jaundiced looking on occasion. A much more natural looking state of affairs shows up, if fleetingly, in a brief beachside scene. A few other outdoor scenes also have somewhat less of the yellow look. Detail levels are generally great when lighting conditions allow, and some of the close-ups of Burstyn in particular show she is evidently not uptight about revealing the effects of aging. Things get really dark (in more ways than one) in the final act, and a completely bizarre vignette involving Mother literally sailing off into a storm has very little detail (see screenshot 6). This is another Film Movement release where I felt that gamma levels were just a bit off.

Mother, Couch Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mother, Couch features LPCM 2.0 and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 options. This is an intentionally cloistered feature, and as such the stereo track may suffice perfectly well for most. The surround track does noticeably open up some ambient environmental effects, even within the store itself, but probably most energetically in the calamitous finale featuring the storm. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Mother, Couch Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary features writer / director Niclas Larsson, producer Sara Murphy, production designer Mikael Varhelyi, editor Carla Luffe and composer Christopher Bear


• Behind the Scenes (HD; 18:23) has some interesting material, including the fact that all of the stars save for Abraham evidently showed up for an early table read, which is kind of amazing.


• Mother, Couch Trailer (HD; 2:09)

An About Film Movement option is also available on the Main Menu, which brings up a text box with information.

A nicely appointed insert booklet has a good essay by Jason Bailey.

The first pressing of this evidently had a slipcover. The review copy sent to me did not.

Mother, Couch Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'll say one thing about Mother, Couch: it's made me passingly curious about the source novel, even if this film evidently took some rather liberal variances from it. This is an extremely curious film that may invite interest from those who find the cast list kind of intriguing, but it really could have used a more coherent screenplay. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements enjoyable for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.