While the instinct for revenge is one of the easiest, most human character motivations to understand in film, the popular subgenre is in no way a straight line. Distinguished through its complex, multilayered goals that run through a deep cut of emotions, the need for revenge from a sharp class of anti-heroes has become one of the most enticing forms of storytelling. Though there are movies that stand out in the genre like Kill Bill: Vol. 1 or The Nightingale, Netflix’s latest offering, The Mother starring Jennifer Lopez, is one that comes pretty close to being an adept action-packed thriller featuring a female lead hell-bent on revenge. But as the film showcases Lopez in a more intense light outside her bubbly rom-com sweetness to kick major ass, the character-driven action epic from director Niki Caro is at times imbalanced and lacks subtlety. Yet, like its lead, it manages to get the job done.