Mother’s Instinct: Picture Perfect Predator
Blogger: Callie W.
Image from Emmä on Pinterest
Have you ever had the gut feeling that someone is after you or out to get you? Or the feeling of your closest friend disappearing right in front of your face? Well, grab your favorite mug because today's film is the perfect brew for exploring these chilling feelings. Benoît Delhomme's Mothers’ Instinct serves up the story of Alice and Celine, two best friends living what seems like the perfect suburban dream. But when tragedy strikes and Celine loses her son in a heartbreaking accident, everything changes. Her grief pulls her toward Alice's child in ways that make your skin crawl, and suddenly Alice is questioning everything about the woman she thought she knew.
The Piping Hot Conflict
Celine losing her son was absolutely devastating—I could not imagine the pain she went through. When Alice went to check up on Celine, she realized her best friend wasn't her best friend anymore. She saw Celine crying in despair through her window and just knew that she couldn't help her in any way. What made it even more shocking and devastating was when Celine had told Alice's son, Theo, that she couldn't have any more kids after having her son. So for Celine to lose her son, knowing she could never see him, speak to him, or hug him ever again—absolutely heartbreaking.
Over time, Celine had begun to have more of a connection with Theo, which I found really suspicious. I thought it was weird to be so close with her best friend's son but never bother to be around Alice. When she would invite him over and go to his birthday parties, I knew she was trying to grasp hold of her son somehow. Celine's actions were slowly getting into Alice's head because Alice began to feel like Celine had it out for her, which she absolutely did.
Here's the thing: Celine blamed Alice for her son's death. She never clearly stated it in the film, but her actions and aura definitely screamed it. Celine's son was supposed to be sick in bed, but instead, Alice found him outside on the balcony. Begging him to get down and yelling for Celine, Alice tried to crawl through the garden fence but couldn't make it through. By the time she made it in, it was too late.
But when Celine had Theo over on the balcony later, Alice had no trouble getting through the fence. That's where I thought Celine believed that Alice didn't want to save her son. Celine started showing very obsessive behavior over Theo, and it became a full-blown passive-aggressive war between Alice and Celine.
Alice’s Descent into Guilt and Paranoia
What really got to me in Mothers’ Instinct was watching Alice's guilt eat her alive. You could see it written all over Anne Hathaway's face throughout the entire film. She kept replaying that balcony scene in her head, wondering if she could have done something differently. The guilt was consuming her, and honestly, I felt bad for her because she genuinely tried to save Celine's son.
Alice became increasingly paranoid as the film went on, and honestly, I don't blame her one bit. With Celine's weird behavior around Theo and the ice-cold treatment she was getting, Alice started questioning everything. Was Celine plotting something? Was she imagining the hostility? Turns out her paranoia was completely justified because Celine really was coming for her in the most twisted way possible.
But here's what made my heart break for Alice—she already had a history of struggling with paranoia, which made this whole nightmare ten times worse. The film drops hints about her past mental health struggles, and you can see how this traumatic situation was bringing back all those old fears and patterns. What's really messed up is that Celine knew about Alice's paranoid tendencies and basically weaponized them against her, making Alice question her own reality.
What made Alice's situation even more heartbreaking was that nobody else seemed to notice what was happening. Picture this: you're watching your former best friend slowly manipulate your family, but when you try to tell people, they just see a grieving mother being sweet to a neighbor's kid. Meanwhile, you're screaming inside because you know something's wrong, but you can't prove it—especially when everyone already whispers about your "episodes."
The psychological torture Alice endured was absolutely brutal to watch. She's already drowning in guilt for not being able to save her best friend's child, and now she has to watch that same friend slowly worm her way into her own family. Every day, the guilt made her second-guess herself: "Am I seeing things that aren't there? Am I being paranoid again?" But the cruel irony is that this time, her instincts were spot-on. Her past struggles with paranoia created the perfect cover for Celine's manipulation—nobody would believe the "crazy" neighbor over the grieving mother.
The Shocking Finale
I need to talk about that ending because I'm still trying to process what just happened. Mother's Instinct really said "hold my tea" and delivered one of the most jaw-dropping finales I've seen in a while.
The final twist completely shattered everything I thought I knew—Celine actually succeeds in her twisted plan. She doesn't just steal Theo away from Alice; she literally replaces Alice as his mother after orchestrating her death. Watching Celine calmly comfort Theo at Alice's funeral, knowing she's the one who caused it, was absolutely chilling. The most disturbing part is how seamlessly she slides into the role of grieving family friend who's "generously" taking in the orphaned boy. She gets everything she wanted: a replacement son and the complete erasure of Alice from the picture. The final shot of Celine tucking Theo into bed, calling him "my boy," while he innocently accepts her as his new guardian is pure nightmare fuel.
But here's what keeps me up at night—does Theo somehow know the truth, or will Celine's manipulation be so complete that he'll grow up believing she saved him rather than destroyed his real mother?
