Hush

1998 Mystery & Suspense

Jonathan Darby made his directorial debut with this thriller, set in Kentucky (but filmed in Orange County, VA). Jackson Baring (Johnathon Schaech) wants his girlfriend, Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow), to meet his mother, Martha (Jessica Lange), so he brings her home for Christmas to Kilronan, their sumptuous Kentucky estate and horse farm. Later, after Helen gets pregnant, they marry and return to Kilronan to have the baby, but Martha aggressively intrudes and manipulates, telling obstetrician Dr. Hill (Hal Holbrook) how to deal with the birth and forbidding Helen from seeing Jackson's invalid granny, Alice (Nina Foch). After learning some of Martha's past history from Alice, Helen soon decides she must make an escape from her demented mother-in-law.

Director: Jonathan Darby

Starring: Jessica Lange,Gwyneth Paltrow, Johnathon Schaech, Nina Foch, Debi Mazar

 19 Reviews  1 Awards

Reviews

  • The kind of movie where you walk in, watch the first 10 minutes, know exactly where it's going, and hope devoutly that you're wrong.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    26 April 2013

  • t's far too soon for an actress as vital as Jessica Lange to stoop to Bette Davis-Joan Crawford horror-hag histrionics.

    Susan Wloszczyna - USA Today

    26 April 2013

  • This trashy, overwrought thriller gets itself worked up into a fine, sleazy lather that recalls the matricidal glories "Die! Die! My Darling!" and "You'll Like My Mother", then wimps out at the end.

    Maitland McDonagh - TV Guide

    26 April 2013

  • Lange seems at a loss to know how to convey Martha's malevolence -- and writer-director Jonathan Darby offers almost no guidance.

    Ruthe Stein - The San Francisco Chronicle

    26 April 2013

  • Lange and Paltrow give it their all, but they can't save this one from plot holes, continuity mistakes, and heartlessness.

    - Christian Science Monitor

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Worst Actress

    Razzie Awards (1999)

     

Lists

No lists

©2013 Movie Monitor