other and chat while gazing into each other's eyes, with Hansi looking on jealously. Hélène invites her son to sleep with her. He agrees. Hélène and Pierre enter the house's wine cellar. Hélène asks her son to cut her abdomen with a razor while he masturbates, and as he climaxes, she slits her own throat. Paramedics take away her body. Pierre says good-bye to his mother before the cremation. He enters the room where she lies in state and masturbates, exclaiming that he does not want to die as she is carried out. Cast Isabelle Huppert as Hélène Louis Garrel as Pierre Emma de Caunes as Hansi Joana Preiss as Réa Jean-Baptiste Montagut as Loulou Dominique Reymond as Marthe Olivier Rabourdin as Robert Philippe Duclos as Father Release Theatrical Ma Mère was rated NC-17 when it was released in the United States. The reason was "strong and aberrant sexual content". For the trailer the film was presented as an NC-17 film while mistakenly defining the rating as "under 17 requires supervision by parent or guardian" (which is the definition of the R rating). Home media An edited R-rated version running ten minutes shorter was released on DVD. The reason for the R rated version was "Strong Aberrant Sexuality, Some Language and Violent Images". Reception Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 14% based on reviews from 43 critics. The site's consensus reads "Pretentious, overly perverse and dull." On Metacritic the film has a score of 35% based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Scott Foundas of Variety called it "Respectable, tightly coiled, but ultimately unrewarding." Jonathan Romney associated the film with the New French Extremity. See also Isabelle Huppert on screen and stage List of NC-17 rated films List of French films of 2004 References External links 2004 films 2004 drama films 2004 LGBT-related films 2000s erotic drama films 2000s French-language films Arte France Cinéma films Austrian drama films Austrian LGBT-related films BDSM in films Films about prostitution in Spain Films about widowhood Films based on French novels Films directed by Christophe Honoré Films produced by Paulo Branco Films set in the Canary Islands Films shot in the Canary Islands French erotic drama films French LGBT-related films Incest in film LGBT-related drama films Films about mother–son relationships Portuguese drama films Portuguese LGBT-related films Spanish erotic drama films Spanish LGBT-related films 2000s French films