Mommy Heist

Three single mums, all coming from different socio-economic facets, team up together to pull off a heist at a jewellery store – securing a non-negligible amount of money while also exacting personal revenge in the process. As complications arise along the way, the three must work together in order to accomplish their joint objective.

‘Mommy Heist‘ is a light-hearted and, in the same time, highly dynamic comedy which also manages to feel relevant to the context at hand – the hardships, especially from a financial point of view, of being a single mother. The diverging backgrounds of the three main characters showcase the universality of the issue and point toward the commonalities that emerge out of each personal mix of factors. It challenges a number of widespread stereotypes, while sometimes subtly, otherwise more overtly ridiculing the assumptions on which they are based. At times, it feels like the film pursues its proposed agenda a bit too closely, sometimes at the detriment of other facets, but in the end, it does so successfully.

As mentioned before, ‘Mommy Heist’ is a comedy, and this shows right from the start. When it comes to its employed style of comic relief, the film by Anna Gutto doesn’t necessarily stick to one single framework, but rather combines more subtle and refined situations with a healthy dose of toilet humour and sexual jokes – certainly not a cohesive set, but a selection that is sure to have something for everyone. What can indeed be described as coherent is its presentation style: it is fast-paced, dynamic and almost certainly guaranteed to keep audiences invested in the plot at all times, without leaving time for boredom to creep in.

Plot-wise, the film is no revelation, and despite some hilarious turning points – our favourite was the one involving an elusive safe code – the action is largely predictable. However, this doesn’t take away from the enjoyability factor which ‘Mommy Heist’ certainly preserves throughout its runtime of approximately 12 minutes. The project never takes itself too seriously, and even when it provides important takeaways when it comes to societal factors, it does so with plenty of humour.

Being a single mum is no easy matter – and this is, unfortunately, often overlooked. As society moves forward, and changes in the composition and structure of the workforce ensue, certain aspects slowly but steadily get internalised into normality. ‘Mommy Heist’ does not reinvent the wheel with regard to its advocation of a balance between work and family life, but makes a number of good points and provides an entertaining experience for its audience. Thanks to these successful inroads, TMFF has awarded ‘Mommy Heist’ with the Student Film of the Month award for its October 2017 edition.