Mother and Child Review

Messages: The overriding theme: Our past may haunt us, but it doesn’t have to define us. That’s certainly evident in the metamorphoses Elizabeth, Karen, and Lucy undergo. It’s a very empowering message. Also: Time does run out, so live the life you can -- now.

Role models: There are no saints in this movie, and what a relief; instead, each character has his or her own strengths and foibles. In many ways, they each have something admirable about them, even the steeliest of the bunch. And they’re also woefully flawed. But oh what an arc they follow, especially Karen and Elizabeth, who are both eager to seek, if not happiness, then peace.

Violence: Lots of anger, but not much violence. A woman knocks everything off a counter at her doctor’s office in rage; soon after, she calls the doctor a name. A man and a woman have a loud fight in a parking lot after she overreacts to his kind gesture.

Sex: One character seduces her boss, and they have a sex scene together in which they’re nearly fully clothed but sex is simulated. The female later flashes her breasts to someone else briefly, and she also conducts a purely sexual affair with a married man. Her backside is also visible in two scenes. The movie begins with two teens kissing, and the girl takes off her top, revealing a bra. Other characters kiss. A married couple is shown in bed in the middle of having intercourse; the man’s behind is somewhat visible under the sheets, and the woman’s breasts are also momentarily revealed.

Language: Some pungent language, from “hell” and “damn,” and the infrequent use of harsher swear words like “f--k” and “c--t.”

Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some social drinking.