Jennifer Lopez is known as The Mother. In her new Netflix thriller, the actress abandons her lighthearted romantic comedy persona in favor of darkness and grit.
Lopez plays a deadly assassin who lives as a recluse in the wilderness until an unexpected threat to her estranged daughter (Lucy Paez) forces her to come out of hiding to protect her.
“I’m a murderer. “But I’m also a mother,” Lopez says as the trailer shows her racing through different locations in a series of high-speed chases through a seaside city, a motorcycle pursuit in the mountains, and plenty of gunfire as she flees dangerous men in pursuit. “And I’ll die to protect her.”
The Mother, directed by Niki Caro, is the first film in the actress’ three-film deal with Netflix. Misha Green, the creator of Lovecraft Country, wrote the original screenplay, which was revised by Straight Outta Compton’s Andrea Berloff. Joseph Fiennes, Omari Hardwick, Paul Raci, and Gael Garcia Bernal also star in the upcoming drama.
Back in September, Netflix released the first trailer for the new film, which featured Lopez in the barren wilderness, hunting deer and seemingly keeping herself in fighting shape by doing pull-ups as she prepared for battle in the remote, frigid location.
“She needs protection right now,” Lopez said of her kidnapped daughter in the video. “You witnessed what was out there. It’s only going to get worse. Come find me if there’s any trouble.”
Lopez’s January streamer release, Prime Video’s Shotgun Wedding, was a stark contrast to the thriller. Lopez plays Darcy in that film, a bride whose wedding to her fiancé, Tom (Josh Duhamel), is hijacked by criminals.
“That girl is a force of nature,” Duhamel previously told ET of Lopez. “She’s a blast to work with.”
“I’d known her for years, but I’d never had the opportunity to work with her,” he explained at the time. “I mean, she’s super professional, but she’s also a lot of fun and funny, and we just clicked right away.”
When The Mother premieres on Netflix on May 12 for Mother’s Day weekend, fans will see a new side of Lopez.
