Mama, a powerful new Israeli drama opening at theaters throughout the country on Thursday, stars one of Israel’s greatest actresses, Evgenia Dodina. She reminds me of Isabelle Huppert, as she is always good, no matter what the part or the movie, and has a commanding, distinctive presence. I’m always happy when I see she has been cast in a movie, and Mama, written and directed by Or Sinai, is a wonderful showcase for her talents.
The movie, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025, tells the story of Mila (Dodina), a tough, independent foreign worker from Poland, who is the housekeeper for a wealthy Israeli couple. She exemplifies the kind of woman who has made the devastating choice to leave her family behind so that she can support them.
But while this choice is selfless, the movie spotlights the fact that she is human and has wants and needs, through a beautifully choreographed opening scene where she dances with her young lover, Martin (Martin Ogbu), a foreign worker from Africa who is the family’s gardener. Sinai, who won the prestigious Cinefondation Award at Cannes for her short film Anna, which also starred Dodina, stages the opening like a short film, making it an intense introduction to Mila.
We see her routine, in which she is quite friendly with her employers (Chelli Goldenberg, once the glamor girl of Israeli cinema, and Meir Suissa, who starred with Goldenberg in the classic film The Troupe). But when she breaks her shoulder cleaning, they insist firmly that it is a convenient time for her to return to Poland for a visit. We can see Mila’s mixed feelings as she heads for the airport.
Rural Poland, where her family lives, presents a stark contrast to the modernist splendor of the beachfront Israeli home where Mila works. But the landscape isn’t all that’s different. In Israel, Mila has a certain measure of control over her life, while in her hometown she finds herself in conflicts she cannot win.
Construction on a new home for her family, which she has financed with every shekel she earned, is not finished, and while the builders are amiable, it’s not clear whether they are working as hard as they can.
But the real problems go deeper than that. Her husband, Anatoli (Arkadiusz Jakubik), does not seem all that happy to see her, and it is easy for her to figure out why. She is upset, although we know from the movie’s opening frames that she has not been faithful to him. But there is always a kind of calculus in relationships, and her moving to Israel and sending back all her money makes his infidelity a betrayal of a higher order than hers.
Mila's daughter abandons her studies
She is far more upset about her daughter, Kasia (Katarzyna Lubik), who has all but abandoned her studies and may be pregnant. Mila did not expect much from Anatoli, it seems, but poured all her hopes into her daughter to make something of her life. But Kasia seems happy, and her boyfriend is not a bad guy. What can Mila do?
It’s this maternal dilemma that is at the heart of Mama. Mila’s despair at what she sees as Kasia dooming herself to a lifetime of poverty and struggle elevates this movie from a slice-of-life drama about a Polish worker to a more universal and moving story. Mila, who controls the money, is the family's supreme authority, but she has not been around and can no longer influence her daughter the way she used to.
No longer young, Mila also fears that she has been replaced by her superficially kind employers, who do not really know her or care to get to know her. She may have lost her livelihood in Israel at the same time that her own family treats her presence as an inconvenience, losing everything. When Mila tells her daughter to stay in school and not repeat the mistakes that she had made, it’s a devastating moment.
A downbeat movie with an upbeat actress
The parts of the movie in Poland are downbeat, but Dodina keeps them from becoming too depressing. Speaking in Polish rather than her native Russian, she gives a memorable performance here – one of her many unforgettable theatrical accomplishments.
Born in Belarus, Dodina came to Israel in the 1990s and joined a group of actors founding the Gesher Theatre, which performs in Hebrew and Russian. I have not seen her perform onstage, but I have heard many rave about her performances.
A versatile actress, she was recently seen in the spy drama Unconditional, which is available to stream on Apple TV. She also has a key role in Hagai Levi’s television series Etty. Mama may be her finest screen performance to date – although I also loved her as a bereaved mother in One Week and a Day – and that’s saying something.