Darren Thornton’s latest film, Four Mothers, is an unexpectedly poignant yet deeply funny meditation on caregiving, queer identity, and the unseen sacrifices we make for family. At its centre is Edward (James McArdle), a gay YA novelist who seems to be hiding from life.

Heartbroken after the end of his last relationship, Edward spends his days caring for his wheelchair-bound mother, Alma (Fionnula Flanagan), who communicates with him via voice technology after a stroke. Though literary success seems to be on the horizon for Edward, whose book has found a fanbase in the States, he struggles to find his voice in press interviews and won’t commit to a career-making press tour in America.

Whether this is out of a sense of obligation to Alma, or a sense of fear, it’s hard to tell. When his three best friends (Farrelly, Gordon Hickey and Rory O’Neill, aka Panti Bliss) – also gay men, all of whom are carers for their ageing mothers – leave town for Maspalomas Pride, depositing their mothers on his doorstep, Edward is forced into the role of reluctant caregiver for four formidable older women. What follows is a sharp, tender and often absurd look at duty, guilt and the complicated intersections of love and obligation.

Thornton’s inspiration for Four Mothers came from an intensely personal place. Shortly after promoting his first feature, A Date For Mad Mary, in the US, he and his brother and co-writer, Colin Thornton, returned home to devastating news: their mother had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Their lives were suddenly consumed with caregiving, a responsibility that came with overwhelming grief, but also moments of unexpected humour.

“There was something about those visits – when my mum’s sisters and friends would come by – the conversations, the banter,” Thornton recalls. “It was so alive and full of history. Heartbreaking, yes, but also absurdly funny. That contrast really stuck with me.”

Four Mothers.

The film is dedicated to their mother, Trish, and this intimate experience shaped the emotional core of Four Mothers. But Thornton and his brother also drew inspiration from Mid-August Lunch, a beloved Italian film about a man caring for a group of elderly women.

“That film resonated with what was happening in our lives at the time,” he says. “But we also wanted to expand on it – to lean into the high-concept, almost 1980s Hollywood comedy feel. That’s how Four Mothers evolved into something uniquely its own.”

At its heart, Four Mothers explores the often-overlooked phenomenon of queer caregiving. Thornton was particularly interested in the unspoken expectation that gay men, especially those without children, will assume the role of caregiver within their families. It’s a phenomenon that also occurs to women without children.

“It happens so often,” he says. “There’s this assumption that their lives are more ‘available’ for caregiving. And while there’s deep love in that, there’s also this lingering question: how much space are they given to live for themselves?”

Director Darren Thornton.

Thornton, whose brother Colin is also gay, has witnessed firsthand how these expectations can take hold.

“It’s funny because our mum saw Colin’s life as much more glamorous than mine – he likes the finer things, he travels more – so in her mind, he had this great quality of life,” he says. “But at the same time, there was this unspoken thing of, ‘Well, he doesn’t have a family of his own, so of course he’ll be available to take care of things.’ It was an interesting way into the story – this little community of gay men who are all looking after their mothers.”

That tension plays out powerfully in Edward’s character. A fiercely intelligent writer, he grapples not only with the overwhelming demands of caregiving, but also with the external pressures to soften his work, to dilute his YA novel’s themes of colonisation and intergenerational trauma – a pressure Darren and Colin have grappled with when discussing their own work, which touches on serious social issues, but with a deftness and lightness of touch.

“You want to tell stories that push conversations forward, but there’s always this pressure to dilute,” he admits. “Watching Edward navigate that was, in some ways, like watching ourselves.”

Thornton also reflects on the way caregiving changes one’s perspective.

“When you become a carer, you start to see the world differently,” he explains. “You start to see the world from the point of view of the person that you’re caring for. And you start to feel how invisible they feel sometimes, as older people, as someone who may have diminished capacity. For example, when you go to the hospital, I always find that fascinating.

“When you’re healthy and just going to hospital to visit someone, you just pass them through. You never really notice your surroundings. But when you’re there on a regular basis with someone else, you notice how unseen people in these roles can feel – the older people and the carers. There’s a whole community existing just below the surface, going through the same struggles, but rarely acknowledged.”

Casting the film brought its own challenges and rewards. James McArdle, best known for his work on stage in Angels In America, was an ideal choice for Edward, bringing a naturalism and emotional depth that Thornton admired. But finding the right actors to play the formidable mothers proved more difficult.

“We assumed it would be easier,” Thornton laughs. “But a lot of older actors are hesitant to take on roles that depict them as physically vulnerable. There’s a fear that it will define the roles they’re offered in the future.”

Fionnula Flanagan, however, had no such hesitation.

“She has no vanity about her work,” Thornton says. “She was willing to do anything to make it feel authentic. There were moments where we thought, ‘Maybe we won’t go that far,’ but she was always up for it.”

He was struck by her absolute commitment to the character, adding, “That kind of dedication is rare. She just trusted the story completely.”
Thornton was also deeply moved by the audience reaction Four Mothers has received at screenings.

“There’s been this really interesting thing where, at the screenings, some people will come up after and share their own stories about caregiving,” he says. “They talk about how they saw themselves in the film, how it reflected their experience. And that’s been incredibly rewarding.”

With Four Mothers now finding its audience, Thornton is already looking ahead to his next project: a sports comedy inspired by two of the film’s minor characters.

“It’s about a group of underdog gay men joining a CrossFit competition to take down a gym that fat-shamed one of them,” he reveals with a grin. “It’s ridiculous, but it makes us laugh every time we talk about it. It has elements of something like Dodgeball in it, with some Michael Ritchie movies from the ’70s, like Bad News Bears.”

For now, though, Four Mothers is having its moment – an emotional, hilarious and deeply felt film that asks audiences to reflect on love, sacrifice, and the courage it takes to truly embrace life.

“We all get older,” Thornton muses. “But are we preparing ourselves to care for others, and to be cared for, in a way that’s sustainable and full of love? I hope this film sparks that conversation.”

• Four Mothers is in cinemas now.