CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Mother, Couch

drama film, directed by Niclas Larssen

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ121267739 ↗
Source-derived summary

Mother, Couch is a 2023 comedy-drama film written and directed by Niclas Larsson. It is based on the 2020 Swedish novel Mamma i soffa by Jerker Virdborg. It stars Ewan McGregor, Rhys Ifans, Taylor Russell, Lara Flynn Boyle, Lake Bell, F. Murray Abraham, and Ellen Burstyn.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2023. It was released in the United States by Film Movement and Memory on July 5, 2024.

Premise

While attempting to leave a furniture store, an elderly matriarch suddenly decides to sit on one of the couches and stay there. Her three children come together, as well as the store owners, who all go through a mind-bending journey of self-discovery.

Cast

Ewan McGregor as David

Rhys Ifans as Gruffudd

Taylor Russell as Bella

Ellen Burstyn as Mother

Lara Flynn Boyle as Linda

F. Murray Abraham as Marcus / Marco

Lake Bell as Anne

Production

In July 2022, it was reported that Ellen Burstyn, Ewan McGregor, Taylor Russell, Rhys Ifans, Lara Flynn Boyle, Lake Bell, and F. Murray Abraham had signed on to star in Mother, Couch. Written and directed by Niclas Larsson in his feature film debut, it is an adaptation of the 2020 Swedish novel Mamma i soffa by Jerker Virdborg. Larsson said in an interview: "The book is very different from the film.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Mother, Couch” as drama film, directed by Niclas Larssen. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2023, 2020, 2024, 2022—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2023. The account is most persuasive where Mother, Couch and drama can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as drama film, directed by Niclas Larssen. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q121267739. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2023, 2020, 2024 and 2022.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Mother, Couch”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Mother, Couch primary sources, Mother, Couch archive and Mother research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mother, Couch”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Mother, Couch” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.