True Mothers

True Mothers, adapted from Mizuki Tsujimura’s novel Asa ga Kuru, offers a deeply emotional exploration of motherhood through the intersecting lives of Satoko and Hikari, two women connected by a child and bound by sacrifice. Instead of focusing solely on custody conflict, the film thoughtfully portrays different forms of maternal love—both from the woman who gives birth and the one who raises the ...

The basic idea of the movie is pretty good but the story wanders all over the place. And the director's vision also wanders all over the place. Between those two faults, the movie is a mess. Still, I didn't turn it off in the first act.