This line, which was spoken by the mother during the film Mommy, agonizingly sums up the relationship between the mother, Diane, and her teenage son, Steve. Diane is a widowed forty-years-something old single mother who is responsible for taking care of her disruptive, provoking, and often violent teenage son after he is released from a care facility.

Mommy opens up with a car crash. Diane gets out of the car with blood running down the side of her face, but she does not have time to deal with the injury because she receives a phone call about her teenage son being released from a car facility. Diane curses out the guy that hit her, takes a moment to calm down, and then goes to pick up her son. This opening scene, which is quite disruptive, sets up the tone for the rest of the movie, which is wildly energetic, highly disturbing, and emotionally stirring. From then on, the director, Xavier Dolan, jumps from one unpredictable and insanely wild scene to the other.

The story of this film is a heart-felt drama that follows Diane in her journey to saving her son from the consequences of his disruptive actions, specially since he set fire to the school's cafeteria and injured numerous people in the process. Diane has an outdated lifestyle: she still uses flip phones, she dresses in early 2000s fashion with her pole-dancing pumps and her embroidered jeans, and she always has a white streak in her black hair. This look might be tacky if not pulled off by an amazing actress like Anne Dorval who can convey emotions with a single look, but her "cool" parenting techniques and her general lack of control over her son, Steve, often worsen and elevate the situation. Diane is responsible for home-schooling Steve while also finding and maintaining a job, but Steve just keeps making it harder for her.

Steve, who is played by Antoine-Olivier Pilon is an unpredictable force of nature. He is loud, abusive, with ADHD and attachment issues. After he is released from a care facility to be placed under her care, explosive fireworks begin in their household and it wreaks havoc with their relationship going to new and violent places. Steve is completely out of control, and he can dramatically turn from being a charming angel in a minute to a provocative devil in the next minute. However, it isn't solely Steve's fault that they have shouting contests on a daily basis, because it takes two to tango. Luckily, their volatile relationship is balanced out when their shy neighbor, Kyla, enters their lives. Kyla, played by Suzanne Clement, is their introverted neighbor from across the street who decided to help Steve with his studies so that Diane can find time to work. Kyla is a stutterer, but her stutter seems to ease up when she forms a semi-friendly semi-family like relationship with Diane and Steve.

The film's visuals are stunning, and the aesthetics of it serve other purposes than just being visually pleasing. The film adjusts its color tones and lighting to either intensify or diminish the tension between characters in each scene. The aspect ratio used in this film is perhaps its most striking feature. Shot in a 1:1 aspect ratio, this movie forces the viewer to the center of action and makes the movie much more intimate and intense. The 1:1 aspect ratio is a perfect square lined with black bars on either side, and it serves other purposes than just being an unconventional artistic gimmick. This screen forces the viewer to focus on the characters and scenes, and since the frame is small and constricted, there is no room for any distraction or pretension as the characters are always at the center of our attention. It also helps to bring the raw emotions and expressive faces of the characters to the foreground of the screen.

Even though the movie has a lot of beautifully constructed shots, it often feels painfully squeezing or claustrophobic. This claustrophobic feel serves as a metaphor for the predicaments and psychological struggles of the lead characters. This screen also makes the characters appear look like they are trapped in a box, just like how they are trapped in a lifestyle or situation that they cannot escape. This square frame can also make you feel like you are prying on the people within the frame, like you are an unwelcomed visitor who is peering on their intimate interactions and private lives. Not only this, but Dolan also plays with the aspect ratio throughout the movie, where he used the 1:1 aspect ratio in most of the film but widened the screen during particularly happy and delightful scenes. The different aspect ratios echo the different tones of different scenes.

The usage of the 1:1 aspect ratio was sort of unheard of before, but after the movie's release in 2014, other directors were inspired and followed lead and used this same technique. This was seen in a 2015 Pepsi commercial where someone widens the frame with their hands during happy moments just like Steve did in Mommy. This was also used in The Lumineers' music videos for their second album Cleopatra, where square shots were used to represent sad and gloomy scenes and wide shots were used to represent happy and carefree scenes.

The soundtrack plays a crucial part in defining the movie's overall tone. From Dido to Céline Dion, and from Oasis to Lana del Ray, Mommy's soundtrack is blasting with pop hits. This soundtrack matches Dolan's eclectic taste in music and matches the youthfulness of the film. It can be argued that this was a pretty risky move by Dolan, because using familiar songs can often throw away audiences as they will be used to different visuals associated with the song (like the music video itself), but Dolan masterfully pulls it off by adding songs that either reflect the themes, character arcs, or character's internal feelings. This shows a great attention to details and makes each scene even more engaging to watch.

The most engaging aspect of the movie though is its characters. This is partly due to the script and dialogue, but it is also due to the actors' brilliant and versatile acting skills that brought to life already meticulously written characters. Each character feels raw and genuine, like real people you would see in your life, with their quirky traits, serious sides, and. The chemistry between all the characters was so authentic that if felt like watching a documentary at times.

The theme of the dysfunctional families is not new to Dolan's films, in fact, it is a recurring theme is almost all of his films. I Killed My Mother, Tom at the Farm, and It's Only the End of the World all have the recurring theme of erratic and dysfunctional families. But one particular film that explores the mother-son relationship is his directorial debut I Killed My Mother. This film was semi-autobiographical and in it, Dolan showed his resentment to his mother sending him to a boarding school when his outrageous behaviors were too much to handle. In Mommy however, it seems like the mother is the one who does the killing, and it also seems like Dolan is offering an apology and acknowledging what his mother went through in raising him up.

Another recurring theme in Dolan's films that was also present in this film is the absence of any father figure or the presence of them but in a resentful way. In I Killed My Mother and Heartbeats, the father served the purpose of an ATM machine that is used when any character needed money. In Laurence Anyways, a character smashed a TV that belonged to another's character's father. In Tom at the Farm and It's Only the End of the World, fathers are never mentioned. Even though the father figure is absent in Mommy, the father himself is remembered in a loving way, which is different from all of Dolan's previous films. Steve's father passed away three years ago, but his memory is still lingering in their home and it's evident in the way that Steve wears his father's clothes or listens to his mixtapes or repeats his metaphors.

With its fabulous cast, peculiar characters, stunning visuals, clever use of music, and jaw-dropping moments, Mommy is a brilliant film that will keep you glued to the screen waiting for the next scene. Given its explosive and emotionally raw nature, it can be a hard and disturbing watch for some people, but it's definitely an experience worth going through because its effective in communicating genuine emotions. You will sympathize with the characters, you will laugh at their jokes, you will cry at their tears, and you will feel like one with them. Mommy is an astonishing film that captures a lot of things at once, and it deals with human relationships in a very mature and compelling manner; it captures the power of love and the essence of life. It is highly recommended for viewers who love dramas but are sick of repetitive plots and stale acting.