Her name has become synonymous with comedy, but one that always comes with a side order of raunch. Think movies like Spy, Neighbors and Bridesmaids, or TV hits including Spirited and, more recently, Platonic and the big thing they have in common is the scene-stealing Rose Byrne. But she's not all about laughs — and there's a sci-fi tucked away on Netflix that reveals another and surprising side to her acting.
I Am Mother (2019) sees her move seamlessly from raunch to robot in an all-female sci-fi thriller. Not that we actually see her, though, because she provides the voice of the Mother in the title, a droid with access to thousands of human embryos in a "repopulation facility" and who decides to give life to one of them.
The child, Daughter (Clara Rugaard), is raised knowing her life will never move outside the four walls she shares with Mother, who is also her teacher and caregiver.
The two are close, but the girl is constantly curious about the outside world and, when a visitor (Hilary Swank) arrives out of the blue, their safe home is suddenly under threat.
Both the girl and the audience find themselves trying to work out whether the interloper or Mother is telling the truth, and the film has some nice touches, especially Daughter's slightly robotic behaviour. But it's Byrne’s work as Mother that really stands out as she tries to be seen as loving and maternal, reinforced by a voice that is both soft and sinister at the same time.
It places a serious question mark over her relationship with the child. With an 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s an intriguing watch with Byrne giving us a fascinating glimpse into the extent of her talent.
This year has already got off to a cracking start for her. She scooped the Best Lead Performance award at the Berlin Film Festival for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, the darkest of titles for a comedy/drama where she plays an exhausted mother. And, for those who prefer to watch her play for laughs in a more conventional sense, there’s another series of Platonic to look forward to later in the year on Apple TV Plus. The show was greenlit for a second season in December 2023, but then everything went strangely quiet and filming only wrapped at the start of this year. No date for its arrival on screens has been announced so far, but spring looks a good bet.
The comedy reunites Byrne with her Neighbors co-star Seth Rogen (Apple TV Plus's man of the moment, with The Studio about to make its highly anticipated debut) as a pair of exes who can’t quite get past what split them up. Byrne is Sylvia, a lawyer who gave up her career to be a stay-at-home mum and now, some 13 years later, starts to question her decision.
Rogen is a recently divorced brewery owner, Will who owns a hipster bar and pays lip service to selling quality products but constantly finds excuses to get in touch with his ex. It’s no cutesy, cuddly rom-com and you wouldn't expect that from either of its stars, but it also makes great use of improvisation by both its stars, giving the show a sparkling spontaneity.
Season one, which attracted a resounding 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, also resurrected the half-hour comedy format, tapping into an audience's need for quick, punchy laughs and allowing the writers to show their mettle when it came to delivering sharp narrative and quick-fire dialogue within a tight timescale.
What Platonic has in store for Byrne and Rogen’s characters is still under wraps. In fact, they’re the only two confirmed members of the cast so far, but the glimpse into the future that brought the season finale to a close has stuck in audience’s minds so much that the return of the bickering couple whose true feelings for each other are still lingering just beneath the surface will be welcomed with open arms.
I Am Mother is currently on Netflix in the US and the UK.
Season one of Platonic is on Apple TV Plus in the US and the UK.
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