Mommy (1999): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1999, Mommy is a drama film directed by Denis Evstigneev, running about 100 minutes. “A chronicle of a Soviet family folk-band founded by a mother of six.” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. After Polina, a mother of six, loses her husband, who went to jail for stealing charcoal and was killed when he tried to escape, she stays behind without any support. To be able to survive, Polina and her family start a folk group. But soon she understands that her children deserve a better fate, and she takes the desperate decision to steal a plane and go abroad... Fifteen years later, Polina is released from prison and finds out that fate has scattered her children all over the country: one is in the army, another is a miner in the Donbass, and the oldest, Lyonchik, who used to be in a mental institution, now pretends to be insane. Polina gathers all of her sons to free their older brother from the psychiatric hospital...

Who’s in it. Mommy stars Nonna Mordyukova as Polina Yuryeva, Oleg Menshikov as Lyonchik Yuryev, Vladimir Mashkov as Nikolai Yuryev and Evgeny Mironov as Pavel Yuryev, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.2/10, Mommy has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Mommy page.

If you liked it. Fans of Mommy tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.