What do you get when you mix two Academy Award-winning actresses and a celebrated cinematographer in his directorial debut? In the case of this piece, the answer is Mothers’ Instinct, a film directed by famed cinematographer Benoît Delhomme and starring the powerhouse duo of <a href="https://collider.com/tag/jessica-chastain/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jessica Chastain</a> (The Help) and <a href="https://collider.com/tag/anne-hathaway/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anne Hathaway</a> (The Devil Wears Prada). Despite bringing in a humble sum of $3.4 million during its cinematic run over the summer, the film is enjoying some well-deserved viewership thanks to its recent addition to Hulu, where it’s leading the charge on <a href="https://redirect.viglink.com/?key=d325da4c00e59f5c25e7b4b7cc6a9b26&amp;cuid=UUclUeUpU2107718&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Fhub%2Fmovies%2Fcollections%2F10022" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the platform’s Top 15</a> in the #1 spot.

Serving as a remake of both <a href="https://collider.com/anne-hathaway-jessica-chastain-new-movie-mothers-instinct/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Olivier Masset-Depasse</a>’s French-language film and the 2012 novel by Barbara Abel, Mothers’ Instinct wraps audiences up in everything 1960s American suburbia and introduces them to <a href="https://collider.com/mothers-instinct-images-anne-hathaway-jessica-chastain/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">two housewives and best friends</a>. Along with being besties, Alice (Chastain) and Céline (Hathaway) are also next-door neighbors and are caring and dutiful mothers to two young boys of the same age.
When the latter’s son, Max (Baylen D. Bielitz), tragically loses his life in an accident, <a href="https://collider.com/mothers-instinct-teaser/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Céline communes with her grief</a> by developing a closer relationship with Alice’s son, Theo (Eamon O’Connell). Trying to understand the heavy and dark emotions that her close friend is going through, Alice does everything she can to accept Céline’s increasingly mothering actions, but when things take a sinister turn, she finds herself in a difficult position. Joining the leading ladies in supporting roles are Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person in the World) as Alice’s husband, Simon, and <a href="https://collider.com/the-power-recast-toni-collette-josh-charles-prime-video/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Josh Charles</a> (The Good Wife) as Céline’s husband, Damian.

<h2>What Critics Had To Say About ‘Mothers’ Instinct’</h2>

<ol>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/untitled-design-32.jpg" alt="Anne Hathaway as Céline opening a car door in Mothers' Instinct" height="700" width="1400"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/jessica-chastain-mothers-instincts.jpg" alt="Jessica Chastain as Alice crying at a funeral service in Mothers' Instinct" height="700" width="1400"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/mothers-instinct_s8mumq.jpg" alt="Anders Danielsen Lie, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain in Mothers' Instinct" height="1500" width="3000"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/mothers-instinct_at7f9e.jpg" alt="Mothers Instinct Birthday Party" height="1500" width="3000"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/eamon-patrick-o-connell-baylen-d-bielitz-anne-hathaway-mothers-instincts.jpg" alt="Eamon Patrick O'Connell as Max, Baylen D. Bielitz as Theo, and Anne Hathaway as Céline in a car in Mothers' Instinct" height="700" width="1400"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/mothers-instincts-anne-hathaway-featured.jpg" alt="Anne Hathaway as Céline suppressing a smile in Mothers' Instinct" height="700" width="1400"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/untitled-design-32.jpg" alt="Anne Hathaway as Céline opening a car door in Mothers' Instinct" height="700" width="1400"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/jessica-chastain-mothers-instincts.jpg" alt="Jessica Chastain as Alice crying at a funeral service in Mothers' Instinct" height="700" width="1400"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/mothers-instinct_s8mumq.jpg" alt="Anders Danielsen Lie, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain in Mothers' Instinct" height="1500" width="3000"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/mothers-instinct_at7f9e.jpg" alt="Mothers Instinct Birthday Party" height="1500" width="3000"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/eamon-patrick-o-connell-baylen-d-bielitz-anne-hathaway-mothers-instincts.jpg" alt="Eamon Patrick O'Connell as Max, Baylen D. Bielitz as Theo, and Anne Hathaway as Céline in a car in Mothers' Instinct" height="700" width="1400"></li>
<li data-list="bullet"><img decoding="async" src="https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/mothers-instincts-anne-hathaway-featured.jpg" alt="Anne Hathaway as Céline suppressing a smile in Mothers' Instinct" height="700" width="1400"></li>
</ol>
On <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mothers_instinct_2024" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rotten Tomatoes</a>, the movie fell below the expectations of critics, landing a not-so-terrific 52% critics’ rating. Still, others like Collider’s <a href="https://collider.com/author/emma-kiely/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Emma Kiely</a> found something to enjoy from the movie, with Kiely<a href="https://collider.com/mothers-instinct-review/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> giving the film a 6/10</a>, writing:
<blockquote>“It’s an entertaining drama with strong acting but a disappointing and predictable twist in the third act that renders all the human drama up until then pointless. The biggest sin of the film is that it’s fairly forgettable both in the grand scheme of cinema as well as its respective stars’ filmographies.”</blockquote>
For now, Mothers’ Instinct is cleaning house over at Hulu, where it’s going toe-to-toe with other highly-streamable titles including <a href="https://collider.com/john-wick-original-title-scorn/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John Wick</a>, The Twilight Saga, and <a href="https://collider.com/video/amber-alert-official-trailer-lionsgate/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amber Alert</a>. Head over to the platform now to welcome the two Oscar-winning stars into your home today.

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Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain’s Trippy 52% Rotten Tomatoes Thriller Has Made a Home in Hulu’s #1 Spot