The Mother is the latest action thriller to come from Netflix, and follows Jennifer Lopez playing a hardened soldier who was forced to give away her daughter after her birth to protect her. The film is filled with gruesome action as the singular hardened soldier who is skilled enough to take down anyone and everyone in the way between her and her goals. The film also draws attention to the classic duo dynamic between the Mother and her daughter, Zoe, where the Mother is forced to train and take care of her inexperienced daughter for her own good.
Netflix has been creating this style of high-octane action movies with a notable star at its center for a while now, each with its own twists and turns to make them each unique in their own way. Because of this, Netflix has a multitude of choices for action movies for those that are looking for a film that can scratch the same sort of itch that The Mother was able to do.
10 ‘Kate’ (2021)
Kate follows the titular character of Kate (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a trained assassin who in an act of revenge has been irreversibly poisoned. Now with a ticking timer, before the poison overtakes her, Kate embarks on a journey across Tokyo to exact revenge on her enemies. On her revenge quest, Kate forms an unlikely bond and partnership with the daughter of one of her past victims.
Kate‘s premise has a lot of the same primary story beats as The Mother, focusing on a hardened female fighter accompanied by an inexperienced teenage girl followed by enemies from their past. The similarities don’t end there, as Kate also delivers greatly on the action set pieces and gory violence, creating an exciting neon-filled time from beginning to end.
9 ‘Lou’ (2022)
Lou follows the story of neighbors Lou and Hannah (played by Allison Janney and Jurnee Smollett), who after Hannah’s daughter is kidnapped during a storm, set off to find them. While the old-school and hardened Lou doesn’t have a lot in common with Hannah, she is compelled to help her find her daughter, with the journey bringing secrets from Lou’s past to light.
Lou and The Mother both feature relatively similar protagonists, tough older women with a darkened past that has caused them to shut off their emotions in fear of weakness. Although what sets Lou apart from The Mother is the numerous twists and turns that the film takes, and how we are revealed much more about the darker secrets of Lou as the film goes on.
8 ‘Sweet Girl’ (2021)
Sweet Girl follows family man Ray Cooper (played by Jason Momoa), who after the death of his wife, vows to take justice into his own hands and take revenge on those responsible. At the same time, he also has to balance his revenge with making sure that his remaining family, his daughter Rachel (played by Isabela Merced) also stays safe and protected.
Similar to The Mother, Sweet Girl has a major focus on a parent-offspring relationship, and the two battle side by side against a common enemy. The difference in Sweet Girl comes from the more centralized city setting, as well as an increased theme of revenge and the unchecked power imbalance of the pharmaceutical industry.
7 ‘Extinction’ (2018)
Extinction tells the story of chief mechanic Peter (played by Michael Peña), who is haunted by visions and nightmares of an apocalyptic event destroying his life and family. His fears are suddenly brought to life when the Earth is under attack from alien invaders. Now armed with the secrets of the truth hidden within his visions, Peter must navigate the invasion and save his family before it’s too late.
While definitely much more of a disaster film than The Mother, Extinction still follows The Mother‘s central themes of sacrifice in the face of hardships and the importance of family. The film is also filled with numerous twists and turns that completely recontextualize the film up to that point.
6 ‘Outside the Wire’ (2021)
Outside the Wire takes place in the near future where the rise of robots and artificial intelligence has completely changed the landscape for war and battle. A drone pilot is chosen to enter a deadly militarized zone for a top-secret mission to destroy a doomsday device but is accompanied by an android officer named Leo (played by Anthony Mackie).
While The Mother only lightly brushes upon the prospects of war and the impact that it has on those on the front lines, Outside the Wire takes a unique approach to a military-focused thriller. On top of these themes of war and its impact, there’s enough high-octane robot action throughout to keep audiences engaged and on the edge of their seats.
5 ‘The Gray Man’ (2022)
The Gray Man follows one of the CIA’s most skilled mercenaries, known as Sierra Six (played by Ryan Gosling), as they accidentally uncover a number of dark secrets hidden within the agency. As such, he obtains a massive target on his back, and he begins being hunted around the world by a number of international assassins, including the infamous Lloyd Hansen (played by Chris Evans).
In the same vein that the main character of The Mother was constantly in hiding and on the run because of their past, The Gray Man‘s Sierra Six faces a similar dilemma. The focus on The Gray Man however is much more on the high-budget action set pieces, and the quirky back-and-forth comedic style, both signatures of directors The Russo Brothers.
Extraction follows the story of Tyler Rake (played by Chris Hemsworth), a highly regarded mercenary who works numerous gigs for the black market. Rake faces his most difficult challenge yet as he is tasked with rescuing the kidnapped son of a Mumbai crime lord, with the mission putting both him and the son in constant peril.
Both Extraction and The Mother focus on hardened and cold soldiers facing off with equally cold mercenaries attempting to kill both them and the child they are protecting. While The Mother focuses more on hiding away and covertly training for the right moment, Extraction is a constant burst of action as the duo faces danger left and right while attempting to escape the city.
3 ‘Triple Frontier’ (2019)
Triple Frontier follows a group of former special ops soldiers who after their time on the battlefield have all been struggling to make ends meet. The group decides to reunite for one last mission as they attempt to pull off a high-stakes heist where they steal $75 million from an infamous South American drug lord.
Netflix action movies like The Mother have not shied away from having the biggest stars front and center, yet Triple Frontier manages to include an entire handful of stars. The star power of legendary stars such as Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, and Pedro Pascal definitely shows on the screen, as the entire group has fantastic chemistry, making the action and stakes that much higher.
2 ‘The Night Comes For Us’ (2018)
The Night Comes For Us follows an elite Triad assassin who had performed numerous massacres for the Six Seas, yet suddenly has a change of heart and decides to spare a young girl. This choice comes with a myriad of consequences for the assassin, as he is soon targeted by an onslaught of Six Seas gangsters looking to punish him for failing to finish the job.
There’s an interesting parallel between the protagonists of both The Night Comes For Us and The Mother. Both protagonists were once hardened and dull to the act of murder, yet after a change of heart, soon become the primary target of everyone they previously worked alongside. Both protagonists also spend the majority of the film fighting in order to protect the life of one innocent little girl, yet both in their own effective and destructive ways.
1 ‘The Old Guard’ (2020)
The Old Guard follows a group of tight-knit mercenaries who have been traveling and fighting alongside each other for centuries, as they all mysteriously garnered immortality. When a new person, Nile, suddenly obtains this same immortality ability, it’s up to the leader of the group Andy (played by Charlize Theron) to show her the ropes before a looming threat arises.
The Mother had a major focus on having a more experienced soldier show a newcomer the ropes so that they would be prepared for the rest of their lives. The Old Guard follows a similar story beat, except with the characters being immortal, resulting in a variety of creative action set pieces where pain has no limits.
