Mammoth

 

Mammoth 2009

• Director: Lukas Moodysson
• Seen by this director: Tillsammans 99, Tillsammans, Fucking Åmål
• Based on the book : no
• Cast: Gale García Bernal, Michelle Williams, Marifa Necesito, Sophie Nyweide
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Gale García Bernal – Old, Babel
• Michelle Williams – Venom, The Greatest Showman, Wonderstruck, Manchester by the Sea, My Week with Marilyn, Shutter Island, Brokeback Mountain, Station Agent, The United States of Leland, A Thousand Acres
• Sophie Nyweide – Noah, Margot at the Wedding
• Why? Moodysson and Williams
• Seen:  11 March 2025 

            Gloria (Necesito) is nanny to Jackie (Nywiede) with two small sons of her own back in the Philippines. Jackie’s mum is an emergency room surgeon. Her dad Leo (García Barnal) is a highly successful, and rich, computer game inventor, now on his way to Thailand to make more money, though he’s not really money hungry.

            Rich vs poor, privileged vs struggling, the West vs the rest of the world, outrageous wealth vs abject poverty, global capitalism vs the survival of the planet, power vs exploitation.

            It’s an ambitious film and Moodyson makes it work well enough, showing that everyone is unhappy in this lousy system. For that it’s worth 5*. Unfortunately, it’s kind of boring with too many clichés and not very likeable characters. I like the elephant though. 

2 ½ * of 5