Isabelle Huppert is one of the greatest and boldest actresses there is, unafraid of any role she's given. Unfortunately that sometimes means she's given parts that are, quite frankly, beneath her. Her role in Christophe Honore's screen version of Georges Bataille's novel "Ma Mere" is one of them. She plays a hedonistic woman who, after the death of her husband, initiates her adoring young son in her lifestyle. She attacks the part gamely enough as does a frequently nude young Louis Garrel as the son but the film is mostly unpleasant and shallow. It's like a porn movie with the pretensions of seriousness, as if all sex is just a cover for something more profound rather than as an end in itself. Ultimately it reminded of seventies Europorn and it leaves a very sour taste in the mouth.

This movie stole 2 hours of my life and I want them back! I kept watching, hoping against hope, that something would happen in the film to redeem itself, but alas, it was not to be. Watching this movie is the cinematic equivalent of a root canal. And for a movie so full of sex, this is about the least erotic thing I can imagine.While Isabelle Huppert is an undeniably talented and beautiful actress, I can not comprehend what would possess her to star in a film like this. This movie is full of unpleasant people doing unpleasant things, for no discernible reason other than to annoy the viewer. None of the characters are remotely realistic, and their actions and motivations make no sense. In a real world, Isabelle Huppert's character would have been imprisoned and/or institutionalized.The basic story is this: boy goes to live with his parents, dad dies, son pees all over his dad's stuff and masturbates, mom sniffs her son's butt, mom decides to introduce son to a world of sexual deviance and perversion (including participating in group sex with him), mom decides she should leave before the two of them actually have sex (but she conveniently leaves a whore behind for son to fall in love with), mom continues her career as a prostitute, son and whore whip the local restaurateur and cry, mom comes home to cause more trouble, and then mom dies and son masturbates at her coffin.There, I just saved you two hours and quite a few brain cells.

A cinematic version of a world Michel Houellebecq would be familiar with: despondent, cynical middle-aged has-beens lounging around Gran Canaria with its alien landscape beaches and urine-stained town centre in pursuit of sex, irrespective of its foul, loveless origin.Trying to find their way inamongst this existential trash-compactor are a handful of young-uns. Principally we are 'concerned' with Pierre (Louis Garrel) fighting the Oedipal constraints of his life with great breastbeating melodrama. Garrel looks like Bjørn Andresen, the boy-object of desire from Visconti's Death in Venice, and the film has the same fixation with choleric, seaside end-of-days as well as the same wobbly snap-zooms.I think Huppert sticks out awkwardly in this film, but that could very well be the role she needs to fulfil. Once again, sensible critical appraisal of her contribution is very difficult. As for the rest of the cast, full marks for commitment in a project that has the look but not the coherence or poise to do itself justice. 5/10

This is the worst film I've seen since Gigli. Little or no indication is given of why the male protagonist involves himself in all the sexual depravity his mother introduces him to, which makes all the explicit and unpleasant sex scenes gratuitous and pornographic. The script is uninteresting and unfunny, and the camera-work is nothing to write home about. The film's only redeeming feature is the gorgeous love interest, called Hansie I think, played by Antoine off Eurotrash's daughter. I didn't like Isabelle Huppert's other bad-sex movie, La Pianiste (The Piano Teacher), but Ma Mere easily trumps it for complete badness by making all the sex, befoulment, incest and masturbation over coffins entirely gratuitous. If this is the best these people can produce, then they shouldn't have been making films, and George Bataille should have stuck to being a librarian. This is a dire film, right up there with Ishtar, but too unpleasant for the 'so bad it's good' market. Avoid, avoid, avoid.