The (Dead Mothers) Club

Filmmakers Katie Green and Carlye Rubin's HBO-aired documentary focuses on several girls and women—including a few celebrities—who lost their mothers at a young age and had to learn to cope with deep loss. Jane Fonda speaks tearfully about her mother's suicide and having little knowledge about the surrounding facts beyond what she read in the tabloids. Molly Shannon discusses the terrible car accident that took the lives of half her family, including her mom, and how the latter's death influenced Shannon's fearlessness as a comic actress. Rosie O'Donnell says that her mother's passing turned everything upside down but established an instant bond between her and others (including her friend Madonna) with similar experiences. But most of the film focuses on non-famous individuals, including a young wife and mother from South America who shares the same genetic mutation that led to her mother's fatal breast cancer; a successful artist whose last interaction with her mother—just before the latter committed suicide—was an argument; and two motherless teen sisters who feel that maternal void while dealing with big decisions (such as choosing a college). Serving up stories that may be helpful to others who have lost a key figure in their lives, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)