y Mother’s Wedding will have limited screenings in New York’s Angelika Film Center and London’s Curzon Soho before its wide release on August 8.
Release Date: August 8, 2025
Premiere: World premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, followed by select screenings in New York and London
A Wedding Worth Crashing: When Family Drama Takes Centre Stage
Weddings are supposed to be joyful, unifying, and filled with champagne toasts and teary-eyed speeches. But in My Mother’s Wedding, the ceremony is merely the backdrop to a much deeper, messier story, one that unravels the threads of family, identity, and long-buried resentment. Set to release on August 8, 2025, this heartfelt dramedy stars Scarlett Johansson and Sienna Miller as estranged sisters forced to confront their past when their mother announces a surprise engagement.
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Directed by Kristin Scott Thomas in her directorial debut, My Mother’s Wedding is a deeply personal film that blends sharp wit with emotional vulnerability. The story follows Lily (Johansson), a pragmatic New York journalist, and Rose (Miller), a free-spirited artist living in Cornwall, as they return home to attend their mother’s third wedding. What begins as a reluctant reunion quickly spirals into a whirlwind of confrontations, confessions, and unexpected tenderness.
The twist? Their mother’s fiancé is a man they both knew and disliked from their childhood. As secrets surface and old wounds reopen, the wedding becomes a crucible for healing, heartbreak, and hard truths.
Premiere Spotlight: A Red Carpet Reunion with Real Emotion
The film’s world premiere will take place on August 5 at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, chosen for its intimate atmosphere and focus on emotionally rich storytelling. The red carpet event will feature Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, and Kristin Scott Thomas, along with supporting cast members including Emily Beecham and James Norton.
Following Edinburgh, My Mother’s Wedding will have limited screenings in New York’s Angelika Film Center and London’s Curzon Soho before its wide release on August 8. Early buzz from industry insiders describes the film as “a masterful blend of humour and heartbreak” and “a poignant portrait of the ties that both nurture and strangle us.”
The premiere will also include a panel discussion on modern family dynamics, hosted by BAFTA, and a curated exhibit of costume designs and set photography that reflect the film’s emotional palette, soft pastels, vintage lace, and stormy skies.
Beneath the Vows: Themes That Resonate Beyond the Screen
My Mother’s Wedding isn’t just about a wedding, it’s about everything that leads up to it and everything that threatens to tear it apart. The film explores the complexities of familial love with nuance and honesty, refusing to sugarcoat the pain that often accompanies reconciliation.
Here are the central themes that make the film resonate:
- Sisterhood and Estrangement: Lily and Rose are polar opposites, shaped by different choices and emotional scars. Their dynamic is raw, real, and often uncomfortable—but it’s also deeply moving. The film captures the tension between shared history and personal growth.
- Motherhood and Identity: Kristin Scott Thomas plays the mother, Margaret, with a quiet strength and layered vulnerability. Her decision to remarry forces her daughters to reevaluate their perceptions of her—not just as a parent, but as a woman with her own desires and regrets.
- Forgiveness and Acceptance: The film doesn’t offer easy resolutions. Instead, it shows how forgiveness is a process—sometimes clumsy, sometimes cathartic, always necessary. The wedding becomes a metaphor for starting over, even when the past still lingers.
- Humor in Heartache: Despite its emotional depth, the film is laced with humor—awkward speeches, drunken confessions, and a disastrous rehearsal dinner that ends in a food fight. These moments provide relief and remind us that laughter often lives beside pain.
Visually, the film is intimate and evocative. Cinematographer Robbie Ryan uses natural light and handheld shots to create a sense of immediacy and emotional closeness. The score, composed by Rachel Portman, is gentle and melancholic, underscoring the film’s bittersweet tone.
Final Verdict: A Tender Triumph That Celebrates Imperfect Love
My Mother’s Wedding is a rare gem, a film that understands the messiness of love and the beauty of trying anyway. Scarlett Johansson delivers a restrained, emotionally rich performance as Lily, while Sienna Miller brings fire and fragility to Rose. Their chemistry is electric, capturing the tension and tenderness of sisterhood with heart-breaking authenticity.
Kristin Scott Thomas’s direction is elegant and empathetic, allowing each character to breathe and evolve. Her portrayal of Margaret is quietly devastating, reminding us that mothers are not just caretakers—they’re women with dreams, mistakes, and the right to start over.
The film’s pacing is deliberate, allowing emotional beats to land without melodrama. The writing is sharp, the dialogue layered with subtext, and the final act, set during the wedding itself is a masterclass in emotional storytelling.
But what truly makes My Mother’s Wedding unforgettable is its honesty. It doesn’t pretend that love is easy or that families always heal. It simply shows that love, in all its flawed forms, is worth fighting for.
Join the Conversation
Have you ever had to face your past at a family gathering? Can weddings be more about closure than celebration?
Share your thoughts, stories, and favourite moments from My Mother’s Wedding once it hits theatres. Because sometimes, the most important vows aren’t spoken at the altar, they’re whispered between tears, laughter, and forgiveness.