In celebration of the release of new Melissa McCarthy-led flick Life Of The Party, available now in cinemas across the UK, we’ve decided to take a look back at 8 other amazing movies that celebrate the bonds between a mother and a daughter. Here are some of our favourites…

8) Mamma Mia

In this Broadway musical adaptation, Amanda Seyfried takes on the role of Sophie; a bride-to-be who is doing her all to identify her father out of three of her mother’s former boyfriends. Meryl Streep is the woman to step into the role of Sophie’s mother, Donna, and is as magnificent as always in the flick. Her sometimes tested relationship with Sophie is both a believable and relatable one, with the pair sharing some truly touching moments, including getting Sophie ready for her wedding to the tune Slipping Through My Fingers.

7) Freaky Friday

Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan star here as an overworked mother and her daughter, who do not get along. What could do more to unite them then, than switching bodies? There’s much to love in this film – Curtis and Lohan’s performances, a great soundtrack, and noughties heartthrob Chad Michael Murray as the love interest. It was Disney’s third adaptation of the novel, and was subsequently adapted into a musical, produced by Disney, in 2017.

6) Stepmom

A terminally ill woman has to settle on her former husband’s new lover, who will be their children’s stepmother, in this emotional movie. In the film, the characters played by Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon are often at odds with one another. In reality, they’re close friends, but chose this project specifically to work on together. The touching tale is one about love, and doesn’t fail to move the audience no matter how many times they see it.

5) Because I Said So

A meddling mother tries to set her daughter up with the right man in Because I Said So, in a bid to stop her child from following in her footsteps. An all-star cast includes Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Lauren Graham and Piper Perabo, in a classic rom-com that ticks all the right boxes. Accused of being a ‘helicopter mom’, Keaton’s character, at breaking point says; “I just want you girls to understand something about motherhood. It’s the most impossible love. You tell me when it ends, you tell me when it stops.”

4) The Kids Are Alright

Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) are lesbian mothers to 18-year-old Joni (Mia Wasikowska). The supportive family are shaken to their core however when Joni and her brother (Josh Hutcherson) meet their sperm donor father (Mark Ruffalo). Released in 2010, the film was amongst the first mainstream movies to show a married lesbian and bisexual couple raising two teenagers. The Kids Are Alright was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and is often listed on critics’ top 10 lists.

3) Mermaids

An unconventional single mother relocates with her two daughters to a small Massachusetts town in 1963, where a number of events and relationships both challenge and strengthen their familial bonds. With fantastic roles taken on by the likes of Cher, Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci in her first on-screen role, this film is a heart-warming hit for mothers and daughters alike. Cher’s mermaid costume is also to die for.

2) Akeelah And The Bee

A young girl from South Los Angeles tries to make it to the National Spelling Bee, in this inspirational tale and one that will stick in the mind of audiences far after their first viewing. Despite objections from her mother, Akeelah fails to give up, and ultimately, that determination and her genius wins her parent over.

1) Terms Of Endearment

Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine take us through 30 years of relationship ups and downs in the quintessential mother/daughter film, Terms Of Endearment. Receiving an incredible 11 Academy Award nominations, the film would go on to win five of them. Jack Nicholson also starred, alongside the likes of John Lithgow, Danny DeVito, and Albert Brooks.

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Life Of The Party is in cinemas across the UK now.

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