# I Killed My Mother
**I Killed My Mother** (French: *J'ai tué ma mère*) is a 2009 Canadian drama film written, produced, directed, and co-starring [Xavier Dolan](https://www.edgepedia.org/xavier-dolan), about a hostile but loving relationship between a gay teenager, Hubert Minel, and his single mother, Chantale[1](https://mk2films.com/en/film/i-killed-my-mother/). It was Dolan's first feature film, made when he was 19 or 20 from a script he wrote at 16, and it premiered in the Directors' Fortnight at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where it won three awards[2](https://kinolorberbucket.s3.amazonaws.com/production/documents/IKMMpresskit.pdf) • [3](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *J'ai tué ma mère*; Canada, 2009, French-language drama[1](https://mk2films.com/en/film/i-killed-my-mother/) |
| Filmmaker | Xavier Dolan as writer, director, producer, and lead actor, at age 19–20; his first feature[2](https://kinolorberbucket.s3.amazonaws.com/production/documents/IKMMpresskit.pdf) |
| Premiere | 18 May 2009, Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des réalisateurs), Cannes; three awards there[3](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/) |
| Runtime and budget | 96 minutes (some listings give 100); budget approximately $900,000[1](https://mk2films.com/en/film/i-killed-my-mother/) • [3](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/) |
| Principal cast | Anne Dorval (Chantale), Xavier Dolan (Hubert Minel), Suzanne Clément (Julie), François Arnaud (Antonin), Patricia Tulasne, Niels Schneider[3](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/) |
| Honors | Jutra Awards 2010 for Best Film and Best Actress (Dorval); César 2010 nomination for Best Foreign Film; Canada's submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar[4](https://presse.telequebec.tv/nos-contenus/1258/j-ai-tue-ma-mere/) • [3](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/) |
| Reception | 87% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (23 reviews) and 81% from audiences; Metascore 77[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_killed_my_mother) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-killed-my-mother/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
Hubert Minel (Xavier Dolan) is a 16- or 17-year-old living in suburban Montreal with his divorced mother Chantale (Anne Dorval). He gauges her with contempt, fixating on her out-of-date sweaters, kitschy decor, and manner of eating, while she relies on manipulation and guilt; the film traces how these mechanisms of their relationship unravel[1](https://mk2films.com/en/film/i-killed-my-mother/). The Frameline festival synopsis describes Hubert as consumed by loathing of nearly everything his mother does, while Chantale, an absent-minded divorcée fond of tanning and tight, shiny clothes, is an equal player in their constant bickering[7](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline34/i-killed-my-mother).
Hubert finds refuge with his boyfriend Antonin (François Arnaud) and with an understanding teacher, Julie Cloutier (Suzanne Clément). When he is unwittingly outed to his mother, the strained relationship reaches a breaking point[7](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline34/i-killed-my-mother). According to the Kino Lorber press kit, when his grades slip Chantale enlists his absent father to enroll him in boarding school; feeling betrayed and unable to come out to her, Hubert has Antonin spring him from the school for a final confrontation with Chantale at their former family home[2](https://kinolorberbucket.s3.amazonaws.com/production/documents/IKMMpresskit.pdf). No literal murder takes place; the title is symbolic[8](https://mubi.com/en/films/i-killed-my-mother/critics-reviews).
## Production
Dolan wrote the semi-autobiographical screenplay at 16, drawing on his tumultuous relationship with his mother and his own process of coming out[2](https://kinolorberbucket.s3.amazonaws.com/production/documents/IKMMpresskit.pdf). In a 2014 interview with *Madame Figaro*, he said he wrote it in one evening, in a period of solitude after leaving school, and decided to direct it so that no one could prevent him from playing the lead; the script grew out of a short story he had titled *Le Matricide*[9](https://madame.lefigaro.fr/celebrites/xavier-dolan-sans-cinema-meurs-031014-964951). He partially financed the film with money earned as a child actor, with the remainder granted by SODEC, a Quebec government cultural organization[2](https://kinolorberbucket.s3.amazonaws.com/production/documents/IKMMpresskit.pdf). The budget was approximately $900,000, and shooting took place in Montmagny in October 2008, [Longueuil](https://www.edgepedia.org/longueuil), and Montreal[3](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/).
Dolan handled nearly every creative role, including set construction and costume adjustments, and his first experience behind the camera came with this film[2](https://kinolorberbucket.s3.amazonaws.com/production/documents/IKMMpresskit.pdf). AlloCiné reports that the dialogue mixes fragments of real conversations Dolan had with his mother with purely fictional lines[10](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-145951/secrets-tournage/).
## Release and awards
The film premiered on 18 May 2009 at Cannes in the Directors' Fortnight, winning the Art Cinema Award, the Prix SACD, and the Prix Regards Jeunes[3](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/). It opened in Quebec on 5 June 2009 on 17 screens, with a re-release on 2 October, and in France on 15 July 2009, distributed by Rezo Films[3](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/) • [11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D145951.html). In France it sold 41,381 tickets[11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D145951.html). More than 40 countries bought distribution rights after Cannes, according to Films du Québec[3](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/).
At the Jutra Awards in 2010, the film won Best Film and Anne Dorval won Best Actress, and it was nominated for the 2010 César for Best Foreign Film[4](https://presse.telequebec.tv/nos-contenus/1258/j-ai-tue-ma-mere/). In September 2009 it was selected as Canada's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film but did not reach the final shortlist[3](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/).
## Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 87% Tomatometer from 23 reviews, with an 81% audience score from more than 2,500 ratings; the critics consensus calls it a raw, blunt coming-of-age narrative that marks an impressive debut[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_killed_my_mother). Its Metacritic Metascore is 77, with all nine counted reviews positive or favorable[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-killed-my-mother/critic-reviews/).
Reviewers singled out the dialogue and the two lead performances. Rick Groen of *The Globe and Mail* described the film as powered by the anguish of a love-hate relationship[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-killed-my-mother/critic-reviews/). J.R. Jones of the *Chicago Reader* praised Anne Dorval's performance as the mother, comparing the mother-son scenes to [Paul Schrader](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-schrader)'s *Affliction* for their sense of familial love gone sour[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-killed-my-mother/critic-reviews/). IndieWire's review called it possibly the closest cinema has come to *The Catcher in the Rye*[1](https://mk2films.com/en/film/i-killed-my-mother/). Recurring criticisms concerned the visual style: Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine wrote that the film is "best heard than seen," with visuals he found borrowed from perfume commercials and the work of [Jean-Luc Godard](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-luc-godard) and [Wong Kar-wai](https://www.edgepedia.org/wong-kar-wai)[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-killed-my-mother/critic-reviews/), and Variety's Jay Weissberg noted a superfluity of styles alongside genuinely funny and painful situations[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-killed-my-mother/critic-reviews/). Brian D. Johnson of *Maclean's* observed that Dolan wears his influences on his sleeve, from Godard to Rimbaud, but that the film is ultimately a drama of relationships rather than ideas[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_killed_my_mother).
## Place in Dolan's career
The Cannes reception launched Dolan's international career[1](https://mk2films.com/en/film/i-killed-my-mother/). *Time* wrote that the film immediately established him as the enfant terrible of French Canadian cinema, and quoted Dolan at Cannes in 2014: "Back in the days of I Killed My Mother, I felt like I wanted to punish my mom"[12](https://time.com/3679470/mommy-movie-review-xavier-dolan/). Commentators have seen the film as a prototype for his later work: the mother-son conflict, and the casting of Anne Dorval and Suzanne Clément, recur in *[Mommy](https://www.edgepedia.org/mommy-2014-film)* (2014), and an analysis in the journal *Atalante* notes that Dolan was already trying out *Mommy* in this first feature[13](https://revistaatalante.com/index.php/atalante/article/download/552/470/2216) • [9](https://madame.lefigaro.fr/celebrites/xavier-dolan-sans-cinema-meurs-031014-964951).
## References
1. [I KILLED MY MY MOTHER, mk2 Films](https://mk2films.com/en/film/i-killed-my-mother/)
2. [I Killed My Mother press kit, Kino Lorber](https://kinolorberbucket.s3.amazonaws.com/production/documents/IKMMpresskit.pdf)
3. [J'ai tué ma mère – Film de Xavier Dolan, Films du Québec](https://www.filmsquebec.com/films/jai-tue-ma-mere-xavier-dolan/)
4. [J'ai tué ma mère, Télé-Québec press center](https://presse.telequebec.tv/nos-contenus/1258/j-ai-tue-ma-mere/)
5. [I Killed My Mother, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_killed_my_mother)
6. [I Killed My Mother critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/i-killed-my-mother/critic-reviews/)
7. [I Killed My Mother, Frameline34 (2010) archive](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline34/i-killed-my-mother)
8. [I Killed My Mother (2009) critics reviews, MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/films/i-killed-my-mother/critics-reviews)
9. [Xavier Dolan : "Sans cinéma, je meurs", Madame Figaro](https://madame.lefigaro.fr/celebrites/xavier-dolan-sans-cinema-meurs-031014-964951)
10. [Anecdotes du film J'ai tué ma mère, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-145951/secrets-tournage/)
11. [J'ai tué ma mère, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D145951.html)
12. [Review: Xavier Dolan's Mommy, Time](https://time.com/3679470/mommy-movie-review-xavier-dolan/)
13. [Notebook · The Endurance of Nostalgia, Revista Atalante](https://revistaatalante.com/index.php/atalante/article/download/552/470/2216)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Coming-of-age films › Coming-of-age films released 2000 to 2009*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license