9 Netflix Movies to Watch in 2025 for Mother’s Day Celebrations

While Mother’s Day is a joyful occasion for some, for others the holiday can be a painful reminder of loss. If you’re grieving a maternal figure in your life, you might find some comfort in the new Vince Vaughn movie on Netflix, Nonnas. Directed by Stephen Chbosky, with a screenplay written by Liz Maccie, Nonnas is based on the true story of real Staten Island restaurant, Enoteca Maria, where all the food is made not by professional chefs, but by grandmothers, or “nonnas,” from around the world. Vaughn stars as Joe Scarevella, who was inspired to open the restaurant as a way of working through his grief over his recently-deceased mother. It’s a heartfelt story about grief, food, and family.

Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick play two very different types of moms in this dark comedy thriller, which recently got a sequel, Another Simple Favor, on Amazon Prime. After their sons become friends, the glamorous, high-powered working mom Emily (Lively) forges an unlikely friendship with a timid mommy vlogger named Stephanie (Kendrick). Kendrick is the perfect counter to Emily’s brass confidence—dorky, quiet, mild-mannered. But Stephanie, a widow, has a darkness to her that Emily is all too thrilled to discover. Then, when Emily mysteriously vanishes after asking Stephanie to pick up her son from school, the real fun begins. You have until May 18 to watch A Simple Favor on Netflix before the movie leaves the streamer, so don’t wait.

The Netflix comedy Otherhood couldn’t be more on-theme when it comes to Mother’s Day movies. You’ve got three iconic actresses— Patricia Arquette, Angela Bassett, and Felicity Huffman—playing suburban moms who decided to show up unannounced at their sons’ apartments when they forget Mother’s Day. Not only is this a movie your mom will love, but you’ll also make yourself look like a better child by comparison to the three lunk-heads (Jake Hoffman, Sinqua Walls, and Jake Lacy) in this film.

Ma (2019)

Does your mom love horror movies? Does she have a twisted sense of humor? Or are you maybe just looking for a mom-themed movie to watch while drinking with friends? Then I humbly suggest you add the 2019 film Ma to your Mother’s Day watchlist. Directed by Tate Taylor, this movie is unhinged, absurd, and downright disgusting in all the right ways. Academy award-winner Octavia Spencer stars as a seemingly harmless middle-aged woman—call her Ma!—who befriends some local teenagers in town by buying them alcohol. But it soon becomes clear that she has an ulterior motive. You’ll scream, cringe, hoot, and holler at this off-the-rails thriller. But hurry, because Ma leaves Netflix on May 31.

Lou (2022)

Sometimes being a mom means having a truly terrible child. That’s the premise of Lou, which stars Allison Janney as an ex-CIA agent who must help her neighbor (Jurnee Smollett) retrieve her kidnapped daughter. The action is a blast, and it’s refreshing to see Janney tear it up in a role typically reserved for aging Hollywood men. And make sure you watch until the end—Lou gets deep about motherhood in ways that might surprise you. It’s not exactly a feel-good Mother’s Day movie, but it is a movie that empowers mothers to be their own person.

If you want to make your mom smile this Mother’s Day, the 2023 Barbie film, now streaming on Netflix, is a guaranteed good time. Believe the hype on this one. Director Greta Gerwig and her co-writer, Noah Baumbach, somehow managed to transform this infamous commercial property into a laugh-out-loud comedy, a heart-wrenching coming-of-age movie, an existential satire, and a self-aware capitalist commentary. And it’s all wrapped up in a neat, watchable, under-two-hour package. I still don’t know how they did that! Plus, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling bring down the house as Barbie and Ken. Plus, America Ferrara stars as a mom who struggles to watch her young daughter grow up. Everyone in the room will feel the Ken-ergy.

AI can do a lot of things these days, but it couldn’t replace your mom… right? If you’re in the mood for a sci-fi mom-themed movie today, you might try this futuristic thriller on Netflix. Rose Byrne stars as the voice of a creepy robot called Mother, raising her wide-eyed, innocent, human daughter called Daughter (Clara Rugaard). The two live alone in an underground bunker, on a mission to repopulate the planet after an extinction event… until an injured human woman (Hilary Swank) shows up at their door and changes everything. I Am Mother is a smart, exhilarating, and well-paced thriller that will keep you guessing until the final shot.

Netflix’s 2023 Mother’s Day movie, The Mother, turned out to be one of Netflix’s biggest original hits of that year. That’s the star power of Jennifer Lopez, baby! Lopez stars as a mom who is forced to give up her baby for her own protection after she gets involved with some nasty criminals. Twelve years later, those criminals come after her little girl, and Lopez goes full Mama Bear mode on them. It’s a fun, fast-paced action flick that lets Lopez (literally) flex her muscles, and we’re here for it.

 The Netflix comedy Mother of the Bride, directed by Mark Waters, and written by Robin Bernheim, has no relation to Steve Martin’s Father of the Bride. But it is a fun, light-hearted, Mother’s Day watch. Brooke Shields stars as a serious, high-strung, single mother, Lana, who’s forced to take a backseat during the surprise wedding for her influencer daughter, Emma (iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove). Lana needs to learn to treat Emma like the grown woman she is, and Lana needs to learn that, occasionally, mother does know best. It’s hardly reinventing the wheel of on-screen mother-daughter relationships, but the easy chemistry between Shields and Cosgrove is a delight to watch.