Jennifer Lopez heats things up with some wacky lines within the Netflix original Mother.
Jennifer Lopez in “Mother” | Doane Gregory/Netflix
The original Netflix motion thriller Mother stars in Jennifer Lopez as a biological mother charged with protecting her daughter from two ruthless criminals (either of whom could also be her biological father). Though he barely knows her – a twelve-year-old teenager happily living within the suburbs together with her adoptive parents – Lopez’s maternal instincts are as unwavering as ever. He is the driving force behind every ruthless motion, every fearless step he takes.
The story suffers from 2D villains that feel like they have been ripped out of the pages of a second-rate comic book and an unnecessarily bloated runtime. However, Lopez boasts the abilities required to present convincing badassery. And while a few of her dialogue could be a bit lamentable, every intentional (and sometimes pathetic) line shines through. Here are Lopez’s fiercest lines as Zoe’s mother in, well, Mother.
Spoiler alert for Mother on Netflix
“You don’t know the way bad it gets.”
Mother it begins with Lopez talking to the FBI in a spot that’s presupposed to be secure. However, she warns the agents present that they’re at risk, and the person who goes after her is several steps ahead of them. In one other perfectly trivial but oh-so-delicious exchange, he asks, “You think you are following him? He’s following you” with a stoic expression harking back to 80s Rambo and the Terminator.
“You don’t know the way bad things are” slips out of her mouth moments before the bullets fly through the windows, proving that she wasn’t just in a pissing contest with agents she will be able to outsmart.
“She’s not Hectora or Adriana. She’s mine.”
Mother never reveals which of the villains involved in child trafficking, arms dealing and low cost lines is Zoe’s father – Adrian Lovell (Joseph Fiennes) or Hector Álvarez (Gael García Bernal). This is because such information has no meaning. Both of those men would use Zoe as a pawn. Both men would risk the lifetime of an innocent child to get to Lopez.
Therefore, when asked who the daddy is by a person she trusted, Lopez replies because Zoe won’t ever, in any capability, “belong” to anyone but herself. This line feels a little bit far-fetched and awkward considering Zoe has foster parents who love her very much and can probably be different. However, this reinforces Lopez’s characterization as someone with a fierce maternal instinct – someone who slips her arm back in place to present one last likelihood to a person who dares to place her daughter’s life in danger.
“Every time I have a look at you, I’m scared.”
For probably the most part Mother, Lopez seems fearless, quick under pressure and hard. However, there may be one moment where Zoe expresses her fear, during which viewers see a weakness in Lopez.
Lopez fights so hard, stays so fierce within the face of danger, because she has to. She have to be impenetrable – pretend to be invincible and teach her daughter to do the identical – because she is deathly afraid of what might occur if she doesn’t. She could have lost it. It is that this fear that drives Lopez. This countless anxiety keeps her fighting when she has exhausted all her reserves. Her fear simply manifests outwardly as an unwavering will.
“They can stare at me for a very long time while I kill each one in every of them.”
Just before walking into the trap to finish it, Lopez says this. She doesn’t care that Hector designed a trap with countless guards to tug her out. He’s going to enter his home gun and kill all of them. This line is the form of line that may make anyone who loves an unrealistic motion sequence – those sequences where one man (one unequivocally trained, sharp shooter master, hand-to-hand combat master) – leaves a pile of bodies of their wake. It’s as delicious because it makes no sense.
Viewers’ knowledge of the unattainable mission of imitation gives strength to this line. It builds expectation – irrespective of how unoriginal it could be. Such lines are trivial for a reason… we eat them.
“We’ve never had a secure word.”
The mother is imprisoned. Hector pointed the gun at her. And yet, hHe flirts together with her as he prepares to kill for sexual purposes (villains in such movies at all times need to blur the lines between sex and violence).
Hector is happy by each what lies ahead and the memories of their former romantic relationship. He teases her by asking if she remembers the games they played. He then asks her if she remembers their secure word. And when he thinks he’s a cat and she or he’s a mouse, she headbutts him, stabs him within the stomach, and puts the knife to his chest. He stares at her in shock, with only just a few breaths to spare as she indignantly says, “We never had a secure word.” Then, after all, he lets it burn in the hearth he leaves behind. Because what’s a dramatic exit without wild flames?
“I’m a killer, now you recognize it. But I’m also a mother and I’ll die protecting you.
Lopez leaves Zoe a message that she intends to read when she’s in a secure place. Lopez finally opens as much as her daughter in the way in which Zoe has wanted all along. Lopez tells Zoe who he’s. She is an assassin. However, “murderer” just isn’t her only label. She is the mother; so he’s a guardian. She’s a protector like no other, and in the case of the push, that killer instinct is not any stronger than combined together with her maternal instinct.
Not quite your typical #Mother’s Day dinner 😅 #Mother @Netflix #Happy Mother’s Day pic.twitter.com/R3EKvcKPeD
— jlo (@jlo) May 14, 2023
Though Mother undoubtedly affected by clichéd narrative and poor characterization, it excels at giving Lopez just a few bad lines – the sort she will be able to say before killing everyone who threatens her daughter’s life.
