Four Netflix mom-coms to watch when you need a good laugh
No matter how old you are, chances are you’ve either watched your mum do far too much or found yourself becoming that mum. But you’re not alone since Netflix is in one too! Heard about the new Cameron Diaz mom-com coming on Netflix, which is literally titled Bad Day. Like, hey, Netflix, you don’t have to get so personal!
Moms do so much for the kids without any recognition, let alone reward, and all she gets in return is endless begging. Sure, Netflix has given us a fair share of bad moms, but the exhausting ones surpass the bad ones.
And that’s why mom-coms deserve more attention, because motherhood has supplied Hollywood with endless material to keep comedy writers employed until the end of civilisation.
Netflix has four films that let mothers have the last laugh for a change, whether their children approve or not. So grab the remote and enjoy watching these moms get their revenge from a bad day.
Four Netflix mom-coms to watch when you need a good laugh
Mother’s Day (Garry Marshall, 2016)
Let’s start with one of the best Jennifer Aniston starrers out there, and her character Sandy in this film deserves some compensation for the nonsense she puts up with in Mother’s Day, because raising two boys after a divorce is enough work without discovering that your ex-husband has married a woman half your age.
And now the new wife is bonding with her children, which leaves Aniston’s Sandy wondering where she fits into the family she spent years raising. You can sympathise with the woman, even when her jealousy gets the better of her.
And Sandy isn’t the only one dealing with family grievances in this decade-old comedy. Kate Hudson plays a woman hiding her marriage from her parents, while Julia Roberts portrays a television personality with unfinished business from her past. It’s sentimental, and some jokes miss their mark, but the film understands how mothers can get caught between loving their families and wanting to throttle them.
Yes Day (Miguel Arteta, 2021)
Next in line, we have the Garner of Jennifers in the list, and this 13 Going on 30 star has spent years playing women who can handle a crisis, but Yes Day hands her a challenge that any mom in her sane mind would say not to. Garner plays Allison Torres, a married woman with three children who’ve decided their mother is the enemy of fun.
They’ve grown sick of hearing the word “no”, so Allison and her husband, Carlos, agree to a 24-hour experiment where the children get to call the shots, subject to a few ground rules.
And wouldn’t you know it, the children waste no time taking advantage of their new authority, dragging their parents through a day that tests the limits of their patience. Jenna Ortega plays Katie, the eldest daughter, whose resentment towards Mum brings some genuine emotion to the chaos, but under all the pranks, this Netflix mom-com has something to say about the mother who used to embrace adventure before parenting turned her boring.
Mother of the Bride (Mark Waters, 2024)
Weddings are stressful enough, but if that wasn’t enough, this Netflix mom-com adds an ex’s surprise appearance to it just to ruin the mood. And Brooke Shields? Oh, she is in for one hell of a surprise in Mother of the Bride. She plays Lana, whose daughter Emma announces she’s getting married in Thailand in a month. Okay, great, congratulations, honey!
But then comes the bombshell. The groom’s dad is Will, Lana’s college sweetheart who broke her heart years ago. Of all the men on the planet, her daughter had to marry into that family?
And now Lana’s supposed to smile through the wedding while her traumatising past barges in to give her PTSD. Sure, it’s not reinventing rom-coms, but watching Lana try to keep it together? Oh, now that’s what we call entertainment!
Otherhood (Cindy Chupack, 2019)
At least the Mother of the Bride gets invited to the wedding. The women in Netflix’s Otherhood would consider that a parenting victory, because their grown sons have developed an aversion to acknowledging their existence. Angela Bassett, Patricia Arquette and Felicity Huffman play three friends who spend Mother’s Day feeling neglected by the sons they raised, and they’ve had enough of this nonsense.
So, rather than sit around waiting for a phone call, they pack their bags and head to New York to confront their offspring. And there’s something delicious about watching these women barge back into their sons’ lives with all the subtlety of a tax audit.
Based on William Sutcliffe’s novel ‘Whatever Makes You Happy’, the 2019 comedy pokes fun at parents who struggle to let go while giving the sons a chance to defend their independence.