Ema

'Mother', at first seems to be bleak drama about mother who takes care of her comatose son, while her husband stays little distant. Soon, a quirky humor starts to flow in to give the film nice warmth. And soon the mystery starts to unfold. 'Mother' is more of a dark comedy than straight drama, but it doesn't go over the top - the comedy/drama is well balanced and the film never falls into (self) parody.

We are first introduced with the Mother character (Tiina Mälberg) while she's doing everyday chores - cleaning, washing, cooking and taking care of her son, who after strange shooting lies in coma. We learn about the son and the shooting through different people (colleagues, girlfriend, lover, students, investigating police officer, friends, etc.) who go to visit him to confess. But not only - we learn about the life of a small town, where everyone knows everything, but nobody know anything. The local police inspector (magnificently charming Jaan Pehk) who at first seems to be there just for comic relief as a silly small town cop. Although he keeps his comical value, but there are much more depth in the character. The film concentrates more on the characters and tries to show that the mystery surrounding the shooting is not the most important. Little by little we are revealed to different things in such a clever ways that we are starting to wonder - who is the criminal.

'Mother' manages to stay subtle, sweet and compassionate till to the shocking ending.