Page

Mum's List

❚ We may earn commission from links on this page. Our editorial is always independent (learn more).

Mum's List

Save

Summary

Drama based on the memoir by St John Greene, starring Rafe Spall and Emilia Fox. Ever since she was a teenager, Kate has been an inveterate list maker, mainly writing instructions for her boyfriend and now husband. When she is diagnosed with a terminal illness, though, Kate throws herself into compiling a set of life lessons to be handed down to her young sons.

Ad

Powered By

IMDB

Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

David Parkinson

Based on St John Greene's bestselling memoir about his late wife, Kate, this drama could easily have been a gushingly sentimental study of disease and bereavement. But writer/director Niall Johnson (who lives in the same Somerset village as the family) captures the devotion that bound Kate (Emilia Fox) and Singe (Rafe Spall) from their first teenage meeting at a roller-skating rink to their sad parting in 2010. Shuffling the chronology to flit between scenes of young love, courageous struggle and poignant readjustment, Johnson may not always be subtle. But he puts great emphasis on the 100+ jottings that Kate made as she battled breast cancer to ensure she continued to play a part in raising young sons Reef and Finn. Good as Fox is, however, it's Spall's bluff charm and unexpected resourcefulness that keeps the film as rooted in reality as cinematographer Eben Bolter's seascapes. It's just a shame that Johnson couldn't have been talked out of the saccharine song selections and Amelia Warner's manipulative score.

imdb-square

6.5/10

How to watch

Loading

Streaming

Credits

Cast

rolenameSinge GreeneRafe SpallKate GreeneEmilia FoxRachelElaine CassidyBobRichard CorderyChristineSusan JamesonMattBobby LockwoodTeenage SingeRoss McCormackReef GreeneWilliam StaggFinn GreeneMatthew StaggTeenage KateSophie Simnett

Show more

Crew

rolenameDirectorNiall Johnson

Details

Theatrical distributor

Studio Soho Films

Released on

2016-11-25

Languages

English

Guidance

Swearing.

Available on

DVD

Formats

Colour

Ad

Ad

Ad