Suburban Tragedy Unveils Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain in 'Mothers' Instinct' Trailer

Oscar winning actresses Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway have literal mothers in its first official trailer Mother's instinct. The upcoming directorial debut from filmmaker Benoît Delhomme stars Chastain and Hathaway as Alice and Céline, respectively, and follows their picture-perfect 60s suburban lives: best friends who raise sons the same age together in the same neighborhood.

But the seeds of guilt and paranoia begin to blossom into an ugly, monstrous plant when Alice enters her neighbor's house to warn Celine that her son Max is standing too close to the edge of the upstairs balcony. But their maternal instinct was not quick enough. In an instant, Celine is left without a son and Alice's son, Theo, is without his best friend.

“You have to separate the sadness from the guilt,” Alice tells Celine, who counters, “What guilt, Alice?” They exchange weary glances, but in Celine's eyes, Alice can see the pain she carries with her. “She thinks I should have saved her son,” he says. It is here that the thorns of the psychological thriller emerge as Alice's husband questions whether she is simply weaving a false narrative in her mind about Celine's feelings. But as Celine grows closer to Theo in her son's absence, Alice's concerns begin to seem more and more reasonable.

Mother's instinct is based on Barbara Abel's novel of the same name, published in 2012. The novel was first adapted in 2018 into a Belgian film directed by Olivier Masset-Depasse and starring Veerle Baetens alongside Anne Coesens. Josh Charles and Anders Danielsen Lie appear in the 2024 film alongside Hathaway and Chastain.