The Best Movies About Mothers and Daughters

Steel Magnolias, Joy Luck Club, Mamma Mia and Others

Jul 22, 2009

Movies love to display the love-hate roller coaster that mothers and daughters go through together.

What is it about mother-daughter relationships that get people emotional, nostalgic, and teary-eyed? Mothers and daughters share a special bond that only females are able to understand, given the emotional hormones they’ve all inherited. Here are five movies that have managed to get to the heart of the close ties of women and their little girls.

Steel Magnolias stars Sally Field and Julia Roberts as a mother and daughter pair who are often at odds with each other due to their independent spirits. Much of the movie centers around Fields’ character, M’Lynn, and her close relationship with her oddball mix of friends. But the relationship between M’Lynn and her daughter, Shelby, is less than overlooked. M’Lynn plays a big role in Shelby’s life, especially because Shelby is diabetic. M’Lynn knows exactly what her daughter needs and the risks that Shelby’s condition plays in Shelby’s life. As many mothers would give their right arm for the kids, M’Lynn gives her kidney to Shelby. Shelby, in turn, risks her own life to bring her child into the world. All the while, M’Lynn’s friends are always there to support the two women. This is one movie that shows the strength between women and the sacrifices that mothers are willing to encounter for the sake of their children.

Joy Luck Club is depicted from Amy Tan’s best-selling novel of the same name. This is one movie that stands out as powerful because it relays the stories of two generations of Chinese women and the impact that the mothers’ past lives have on the present-day lives of their daughters. Four older women each tell their tales of the hardships and sacrifices they experienced as young women that shaped them into who they have become. Their stories provide insight to their relationships with their daughters, who also have their share of tribulations. In the end, both mother and daughter’s lives converge and the daughters find strength in their mothers. This movie is relatable because in real-life, daughters often take for granted that their mothers led past lives before they had children. And it is in their mothers’ pasts that young women can come to understand who their mothers really are as women.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is the adaptation of Rebecca Wells’ novel of the same name. Like Steel Magnolias, it portrays the life-long friendship between women. However, the premise of the story centers around a woman named Sidda, played by Sandra Bullock, who searches immensely for answers to her own life by trying to understand her mother’s life, Vivi, portrayed by Ellen Burstyn and Ashley Judd as Young Vivi. Sidda has a difficult time letting go of her own sordid past with her mother and struggles to find the courage to forgive Vivi. With the help of Vivi’s friends, also known as the Ya-Yas, Sidda comes to terms with the woman her mother really is. Just as in Joy Luck Club, a mother’s past can have a lasting effect on her grown-up daughter’s life. This movie is a good example of how a mother can transfer her torment to her child without even realizing it. It also shows how strong the bond is between mother and daughter, no matter how dysfunctional the relationship may be.

Mamma Mia is the movie adaptation of the famous Broadway show featuring the hit songs from Abba. This musical comedy tells the story of a young woman, Sophia, and her quest to find out who she really is by searching for her father, who could be one of three men. She invites all three men to her wedding, hoping that one of them, her birth father, would walk her down the aisle. Her single mother, Donna, however, is completely unaware of her daughter’s plan. And although she runs into her ex-lovers, she does all she can to protect her daughter from learning the truth about these men, even though Sophie already knows. This lighthearted story displays the close relationship between a mother and daughter, and how the bond between them cannot be broken. No matter what her mother did in her past and the fact that she doesn’t know which man fathered her, Sophie’s unconditional love for her mother shines through when she asks Donna to escort her down the aisle. Sophie comes to realize the tremendous sacrifices her mother made to raise her well.

Last, but not least, one of the most powerful mother-daughter movies of all time is Terms of Endearment. Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, this movie pretty much sums up all of the aforementioned movies. Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger, as mother and daughter Aurora and Emma, give outstanding performances. But this is not why the movie is so great. What is real is the emotional roller-coaster that mothers and daughters often experience together: the conflicts, the struggles, the laughter, and the tears. Aurora is relatable because she shows her unwillingness to let her daughter go and live her own life and make her own mistakes. The movie portrays both women as human beings who face real-life situations together, from infidelity to the loss of a child.

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