Writer/director Rachel Suissa’s Greek Mothers Never Die opens with footage of Greek daughters talking in front of the camera about their moms, including all of their contradictions. They’re overbearing and prone to lies. They’re loud, yet loving, and ultimately, they want what’s best for their child. From there, it’s clear that this film is going to explore the messy relationship between mothers and daughters, more specifically, between the film’s protagonist, the 26-year-old Ella (Abby Miner) and her incredibly possessive mom, played by Suissa.
Greek Mothers Never Die blends a lot of genres. At its core, though, it’s a layered drama about the complicated relationship between Ella and her mom, Despina. It’s true that dear old mom can be incredibly annoying. She’s prone to telling Ella that just about everything causes cancer, especially various foods. Yet, she didn’t have the easiest life. Her husband died of cancer, leaving her a widow when Ella was just a kid. This made Despina even more protective, and perhaps, rightfully so. However, because of Despina’s behavior, Ella leads an incredibly sheltered life, to the point she’s a virgin well into her 20s. Her mom is so controlling to the point that she picks out Ella’s boyfriends. This includes Nick (Simon Rérolle). He’s an American living in Greece, and like Ella, he has no friends. Their budding romance concludes when Nick suddenly goes to America. He lies to Ella and tells her he’ll only be gone for two weeks, but that turns into years.
Eventually, when Ella arrives in the U.S., specifically Florida with her mom, her luck doesn’t improve. She mainly only has one friend, the far more social Heather (Sophia Sutton), who, along with Despina, provides a lot of comedic relief. Poor Ella still can’t land any dates and feels like it’s all her fault. Considering the film’s title, it’s not really a spoiler to state that Despina dies fairly early in the film, returning as a ghost to haunt Ella and still control her every move.
The constant bickering between Ella and Despina lands a lot of laughs, but also underscores the troubled, yet loving relationship that the two have. When Ella so happens to meet Nick in the U.S. and has to pose as his fiancé, oddly enough, Despina suspects he’s changed and that Ella should be careful. It turns out she’s right. Nick, now a surgeon, is no longer the loner he was in Greece, and he doesn’t harbor the same feelings for Ella, at least not initially.
The Nick and Ella storyline adds rom-com vibes to the film, and sometimes risks being cheesy. However, it never quite plunges into overly emotional territory. That said, the explanation given for Ella seeing her mom as a ghost feels sudden, abrupt, and rushed. It’s one of the film’s main faults. The last act doesn’t quite stick the landing, namely regarding Ella’s storyline.
While Greek Mothers Never Die runs a little long and fumbles some in concluding its protagonist’s narrative, it still contains plenty of moving moments. It’s also an honest exploration of parent and child relationships and how our parents haunt us long after they’re gone.
