MY MOTHER’S WEDDING (2025) review
written by: Kristin Scott Thomas and John Micklethwait
produced by: Finola Dwyer and Steven Rales
directed by: Kristin Scott Thomas
rated: R (for language, some sexual material and brief nudity)
runtime: 95 min.
U.S. release date: August 8, 2025
Two years ago, Kristin Scott Thomas‘s directorial debut “North Star” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The dramedy was initially called “My Mother’s Wedding”, a more descriptive title, and when Vertical Entertainment picked it up earlier this year, that’s what it was changed back to. It feels like a particular and personal story, and it’s not until we’re shown an on-screen image before the end credits begin that we realize how personal it is. It reads “in memory of my fathers”, with two black-and-white photographs that commemorate LtCdr. Simon Thomas RN 1935-1966 and Cdr. Simon Idiens RN 1933-1972.
Scott Thomas did indeed have two fathers (one biological and one step) who were Royal Navy pilots, both of whom perished in flying accidents. The screenplay she co-wrote with her husband, John Micklethwait, is loosely influenced by her childhood memories of these men, along with the impact they had on her and her two sisters (there are brothers, but only the sisters are included here). Scott Thomas stars as Diana, the titular character, ostensibly portraying a version of her mother, and she assembles a talented cast here to represent versions of herself and her family.
The story being told in “My Mother’s Wedding” primarily revolves around three adult sisters who return to their family’s countryside home in Hampshire, England, to attend their mother’s third wedding to a man named Geoff Loveglove (James Fleet, who costarred with Scott Thomas in “Four Weddings and a Funeral”). Tensions surface as the siblings work out their personal issues. Katherine Frost (Scarlett Johansson) has continued to surpass her late father’s legacy by becoming the first female captain in the Royal Navy to helm an aircraft carrier. Victoria (Sienna Miller) is an actress of considerable popularity living in Hollywood and Georgina (Emily Beecham), works as a palliative nurse and has settled down to raise a family. While all of them share the same mother, not all of the sisters were conceived from the same marriage, yet they all have varying degrees of trauma associated with losing their father in their youth. They have responded to that trauma in distinctly different ways, some developing better coping mechanisms than others.
Their individual daddy issues have also played a significant factor in their relationships. Like her father, Katherine has become career-focused over the years, often neglecting her son, Marcus (Fflyn Edwards), who doesn’t recognize her in a parental way anymore due to her extended absences, and her partner, Jack (Frieda Pinto). She finds herself getting worked up over the idea of her mother taking on a new surname, especially one as ridiculous as “Loveglove”. Katherine is also often found drifting off in her memories of her father (Scott Thomas curiously uses as animated moments akin to pages of charcoal sketches for these memories), which affect how she views her mother’s upcoming nuptials.
The self-absorbed Veronica has a teenage son and a penchant for older men and often loses herself in “acting” no matter where she is. It’s a surprise to everyone when the married older billionaire Stuart (Paul Hunter), who is Diana’s age and with whom she is having an affair, arrives via helicopter during the three-day wedding weekend. She winds up helping Georgina by hiring a private investigator (Samson Kayo) to follow her philandering husband, Jeremy (Joshua McGuire), something that Georgina is aware of but has overlooked in her efforts to convey a picture-perfect family.
To say a lot is going on here is an understatement, and one can’t help but think how tonally disjointed it comes across. Family drama and dysfunction are expected during events such as weddings and funerals, where unresolved issues find their way out, so it’s expected to find that here. The problem is that Scott Thomas has trouble balancing sitcom comedy material with complicated drama from the past. Perhaps there’s an attempt to bring too many side stories for each of these sisters that ultimately turn out to be unnecessary.
A story like this relies on convincing chemistry between the sisters, and that’s lacking here. It could be that Johansson is miscast as Katherine, even though she does a pretty convincing British accent. It also doesn’t help that the relationship between Johansson and Pinto is unconvincing, even if it is going through problems. Maybe Johansson was doing Scott Thomas a favor, considering this is the third time she’s played her daughter after 1998’s “The Horse Whisperer” and 2008’s “The Other Boleyn Girl”. Maybe securing Johansson in the role got the project greenlit. Whatever it is, it becomes a challenge to differentiate the actor from the role.
That being said, the best scene in “My Mother’s Wedding” comes too late in the third act. It involves Diana challenging her three daughters to free themselves from the shadows of their father and be their own women. Scott Thomas is excellent in the scene and communicates much of what we’ve been feeling all along. Sadly, it took way too long to get there, and much of what came before it just didn’t feel as sincere as this poignant moment.
This is a story that’s been gestating for Scott Thomas’s entire life, but maybe there’s a better way to tell this story, one that focuses less on sibling strife and more on their relationships with their respective fathers. Perhaps the material would be better suited for a documentary. Sarah Polley did it so well in 2012 with “Stories We Tell,” and recently Mariska Hargitay made a fascinating HBO documentary about her family with “My Mom Jayne”. Jonathan Demme’s “Rachel Getting Married” is a perfect example of how to get it all right when the story revolves around a wedding and multiple characters. He made it look easy, but this film is a reminder that it’s not.
