‘Mothers’ Instinct’ is a quite entertaining, Hitchcockian thriller until just before the end

When American suburbs look as perfectly raked and freshly pastel-colored as in… Mothers’ Instinct, danger is never far away. And yes: the 1960s ideal of neat families with well-behaved children will soon be shattered. In this psychological thriller, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain play housemothers who, in addition to being neighbors, are also best friends – until an accident turns their relationships upside down.

Mothers’ Instinct is a remake of the Belgian film Dueling lessons, based on a book by the Brussels author Barbara Abel. Just like in the original, the story goes off track in the final scenes, but until then this is a quite entertaining, Hitchcockian thriller, which relies heavily on the playing of Hathaway and Chastain. Which of the two mothers is crazy and/or evil? It’s a shame that real tension is lacking – this highly stylized film is too artificial from the start.