Starting with the most well known on this list, Ladybird marked Greta Gerwig's solo directorial debut. It follows Christine 'Lady Bird' McPherson as she finishes high school amid a tumultuous relationship with her mother. Fellow stubborn young women with stubborn mothers unite, I know this one has probably appeared in your Letterboxd top four. Though the two often argue, it is the unpredictable moments between this that help give the film its sentimentality. If its one that's been sitting in your watchlist for a while, Mothers Day marks an apt occasion to finally cross it off.
Mabel's identity as a mother is central to the film...
Before 2025's Die My Love there was Cassavetes' most praised masterpiece, A Woman Under the Influence. The film follows the lost and eccentric Mabel (Gena Rowlands, and Cassavetes long-time wife) as she descends deeper and deeper into her own world. Mabel's identity as a mother is central to the film, it is her who spends the days caring for their three young children while her husband is continuously called into work. Ironically, though he is a construction worker, he is unable to 'fix' Mabel into behaving how she is expected to. Despite her bizarreness she is a caring and loveable mother. Throughout the film's three hour runtime, you will not stop thinking of her once. Mabel and her husband's mothers are also present throughout the film, always reinforcing the theme of motherhood. The dinner scene towards the end is one of the most memorable of all time, no spoilers but... it's phenomenal.
In the same vein as Ladybird but much less recognised, Real Women Have Curves follows as the recently graduated Ana (America Ferrera) is pressured by financial circumstances to work at her sister's textile factory. Though her father and sister are encouraging of her ambition to go to college, her mother Carmen is insistent she stays with the family. Admittedly more focused on the mother-daughter relationship than solely motherhood, the film also includes body image as a main theme. Amongst other nagging Ana faces from her mother, she is near-constantly reminded of her weight and its difference from how Carmen believes it should look in order for her to one day marry. As the shortest and most underrated of this list, I highly suggest it for anyone looking to fill in an evening, and perhaps shed some tears.