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How to watch Rafael Nadal at Paris 2024 online for free
Live stream Rafael Nadal at Paris 2024 online for free from anywhere in the world.
TL;DR: Live stream Rafael Nadal at Paris 2024 for free on BBC iPlayer. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
Rafael Nadal has done it all in tennis. The 38-year-old Spaniard is a 22-time grand slam winner and a gold medalist in singles and doubles action.
But at Paris 2024 Nadal takes up a new challenge: teaming with Carlos Alcaraz, the hottest young name in world tennis.
Alcaraz has won two straight Wimbledons — beating Djokovic both times, no less — and he’s still only 21 years old. Nadal and Alcaraz could be a tennis doubles dream team — not to mention a sure bet to take the gold medals.
If you want to watch Rafael Nadal at Paris 2024 for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Nadal competing at Paris 2024?
Rafael Nadal is set to compete in the men’s doubles first round at Paris 2024:
Gonzalez & Molteni vs. Nadal & Alcaraz — from 1:00 p.m. ET on Jul. 27
How to watch Nadal at Paris 2024 for free
The tennis events at Paris 2024 are available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer.
BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, but you can get free access to this streaming platform by using a VPN. VPNs are brilliant tools that can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server based in the UK, unblocking free streaming sites like BBC iPlayer, along with all the tennis action, no matter where you are around the globe.
Unblock BBC iPlayer for free by following this simple process:
Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK
Visit BBC iPlayer
Live stream the tennis events at Paris 2024 from anywhere in the world
Opens in a new window
ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free)
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPN services usually have free trial period or money-back guarantee offers. Leverage these offers to unblock BBC iPlayer without committing any cash. This is obviously a short-term solution, but it gives you time to stream the tennis events at Paris 2024 (plus all other Paris 2024 events on BBC iPlayer) before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer?
ExpressVPN is the best service for streaming live sport on BBC iPlayer, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including the UK
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
Fast connection speeds free from throttling
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95, which gives you a saving of 49% off the regular price. The package includes an extra three months for free, plus a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream the Rafael Nadal games at Paris 2024 for free with ExpressVPN.
How to watch Novak Djokovic at Paris 2024 online for free
Live stream Novak Djokovic at Paris 2024 online for free from anywhere in the world.
TL;DR: Live stream Novak Djokovic at Paris 2024 for free on BBC iPlayer. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
There are a dozens of elite athletes performing at Paris 2024, but few names stand out like tennis superstar Novak Djokovic. And the Serb is sure to bring his A-game. He’s a 24-time Grand Slam winner but a gold medal still eludes him. His highest accolade at this level is a bronze at Beijing 2008.
After a tricky tennis season that’s seen Djokovic suffer a knee injury and lose the Wimbledon final for the second straight year, Paris 2024 could be a chance for Djokovic to redeem himself — and remind tennis fans why he’s one of the greatest of all time.
If you want to watch Novak Djokovic at Paris 2024 for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Djokovic competing at Paris 2024?
Novak Djokovic is set to compete in the men’s singles first round at Paris 2024:
Novak Djokovic vs. Matthew Ebden — from 6:00 a.m. ET on Jul. 27
How to watch Djokovic at Paris 2024 for free
The tennis events at Paris 2024 are available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer.
BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, but you can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. VPNs can obscure your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, helping unblock free streaming sites like BBC iPlayer, along with the tennis action, no matter where you are around the globe.
Unblock BBC iPlayer for free by following this simple process:
Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK
Visit BBC iPlayer
Live stream the tennis events at Paris 2024 from anywhere in the world
Opens in a new window
ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free)
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can unblock BBC iPlayer without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it gives you time to stream the tennis events at Paris 2024 (as well as all other Paris 2024 events on BBC iPlayer) before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer?
ExpressVPN is the best service for streaming live sport on BBC iPlayer, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including the UK
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
Fast connection speeds free from throttling
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 for a total saving of 49% from the regular price. That includes an extra three months for free, plus a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream the Novak Djokovic games at Paris 2024 for free with ExpressVPN.
How to watch New Zealand vs. USA at Paris 2024 online for free
Live stream New Zealand vs. USA at Paris 2024 online for free from anywhere in the world.
TL;DR: Live stream New Zealand vs. USA at Paris 2024 for free on BBC iPlayer. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The Group stages of soccer are well underway at Paris 2024, and it’s still anyone’s game. Next up, it’s group A teams New Zealand and USA.
If you want to watch New Zealand vs. USA at Paris 2024 for free from anywhere in the world, keep scrolling because we have all the information you need.
When is New Zealand vs. USA at Paris 2024?
New Zealand vs. USA at Paris 2024 takes place at 1:00 p.m. ET on July 27. The event will be held at Marseille Stadium, Marseille.
How to watch New Zealand vs. USA at Paris 2024 for free
Olympic soccer matches at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer.
BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, but if you want to catch the game from elsewhere in the world, you can do so with the use of a VPN. VPNs are tools that hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock free streaming sites like BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world.
Unblock BBC iPlayer for free by following this simple process:
Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK
Visit BBC iPlayer
Live stream New Zealand vs. USA at Paris 2024 from anywhere in the world
Opens in a new window
ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free)
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can unblock BBC iPlayer without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it gives you time to stream New Zealand vs. USA at Paris 2024 before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer?
ExpressVPN is the best service for streaming live sport on BBC iPlayer, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including the UK
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
Fast connection speeds free from throttling
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream New Zealand vs. USA at Paris 2024 for free with ExpressVPN.
NYT Strands hints, answers for July 27
The NYT Strands hints and answers you need to make the most of your puzzling experience.
If you’re reading this, you’re looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Bedtime story
All the words appear in a specific children’s story.
Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
The words are taken from Goodnight Moon.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is GoodnightMoon.
NYT Strands word list for July 27
GoodnightMoon
Mush
Mittens
Kittens
Socks
Clocks
NoBody
Looking for other daily online games? Find one you might like – or hints for another game you’re already playing – on Mashable’s Games page.
Glen Powell did not kiss Daisy Edgar-Jones at the end of ‘Twisters’ and we have feelings – Mashable Rants
‘Twisters’ did not culminate in a Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones kiss, and Belen Edwards needs to rant about it.
‘Twisters’ did not culminate in a Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones kiss, and Belen Edwards needs to rant about it.
NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for July 27
Connections is a New York Times word game that’s all about finding the “common threads between words.” How to solve the puzzle.
Connections is the latest New York Times word game that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for July 26’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Apropos of nothing…
Green: Foment
Blue: Sexy one
Purple: Ideas expressed with a certain single letter
Featured Video For You
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: OFF TOPIC REMARKS
Green: CREATE, AS RESULTS
Blue: HOTTIE
Purple: WORDS REPRESENTED BY THE LETTER “R”
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #410 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
OFF TOPIC REMARKS – ASIDE, DETOUR, DIGRESSION, TANGENT
CREATE, AS RESULTS – BEAR, GENERATE, PRODUCE, YIELD
HOTTIE – BABE, FOX, SNACK, TEN
WORDS REPRESENTED BY THE LETTER “R” – ARE, RADIUS, REVERSE, RIGHT
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday’s Connections.
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Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Wordle today: Here’s the answer hints for July 27
Here’s the answer for “Wordle” #1134 on July 27, as well as a few hints, tips, and clues to help you solve it yourself.
Oh hey there! If you’re here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we’re serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today’s answer.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for July 25’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?
Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.
What’s the best Wordle starting word?
The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?
The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.
Is Wordle getting harder?
It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
Nectar.
Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter J.
The Wordle answer today is…
Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today’s Wordle is…
JUICE.
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Reporting by Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
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—
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Fitbit Charge 6 Fitness Tracker With 6-Months Membership
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Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS, 41mm, Midnight, S/M, Sports Band)
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Olympics 2024 Opening Ceremony: Every performer and celebrity who appeared
The opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics featured lots of stars. Here’s everyone who appeared and performed.
The 2024 Olympics began with a star-studded, impressive opening ceremony in Paris.
The event featured a totally new look, opting to feature the Seine River and stunning background of the city itself instead of the typical garish display inside a stadium.
Being in Paris, we expected big-time artists and celebrities and it certainly delivered.
Zinedine Zidane
French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane got thing underway by carrying the Olympic torch in a pre-filmed sketch that got the Olympics underway.
Lady Gaga
As lots of folks expected Lady Gaga appeared at the opening ceremony. She performed a song in French, complete with dancers, choreography, and an orchestra, as the athletes made their way down the Seine.
Marie Antoinette
OK, not really. But someone dressed as Marie Antoinette held her own disembodied head. Really.
Aya Nakamura
The uber-popular French pop star performed, dressed in all gold with dancers following along as she walked and danced through beautiful Parisian backgrounds.
Steph Curry and A’ja Wilson
The NBA and WNBA stars, respectively, were interviewed during the NBC broadcast about their goals and experiences with the Olympics.
Michael Phelps
The Olympics G.O.A.T, swimmer Michael Phelps, appeared in the procession, though, obviously, he is no longer competing.
The Minions
Yes, for some reason, we got what amounted to a Minion advertisement in the middle of the ceremony. Apparently they were created by a French artist.
Gojira
The French metal band played a very metal performance after a section honoring Les Mis.
Noah Lyles
The world’s current fastest man was another featured interview on the NBC broadcast. Lyles promised a win in not only the 100-meter, but also the 200-meter.
Rim’K
French rapper Rim’K performed on a barge on the river.
Snoop Dogg
Grammy-nominated rapper Snoop Dog was seen carrying the Olympic torch through the streets of Saint-Denis on Friday. But he also gave us a little jig after Algerian-French rapper Rim’K performed.
LeBron James and Coco Gauff
Team USA flag-bearers Coco Gauff and LeBron James were featured in interviews during the NBC croadcast. The tennis star and NBA icon did a joint interview about how thrilled they were to represent the U.S. in Paris.
Joel Embiid
Former NBA MVP Joel Embiid was featured in an interview on the NBC broadcast, describing how he chose to play with the U.S. and not France or Cameroon, where he was born.
Juliette Armanet
The French singer did a lovely rendition of “Imagine” on a floating barge, accompanied by a piano that was on fire. Kind of cool.
Rafael Nadal, Carl Lewis, Serena Williams
Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal took over the torch from Zidane toward the end of the ceremony. Alongside Nadal on a boat in the Seine was Serena Williams and former track star Carl Lewis.
Tony Parker
The French retired NBA star helped carry the torch.
Celine Dion
After a long ceremony, and lots of waiting for Dion, she finally, as rumored, performed. And she did so in grand fashion atop the Eiffel Tower.
Celine Dion triumphs at Olympics opening ceremony and the internet lights up
The Paris Olympics’ officially got under way with the opening ceremony on Friday. The internet was all about it.
The Paris Olympics kicked off on Friday with an opening ceremony unlike any other.
It promised to be a star-studded event with expected appearances from Celine Dion and Lady Gaga, with rumors of other big names. The ceremony certainly delivered with performances and appearances from stars.
The big names aside, it was also a unique opening ceremony in the way it was carried out. It was not held in a stadium like usual. This time, we’re getting a parade through Paris with thousands of athletes carried on nearly 100 boats. The idea was to bring all the gorgeous history of Paris into the ceremony itself.
With more than a billion projected viewers of the opening ceremony on TV, the reactions flooded online. In general, folks thought it was well done.
Here’s what people were saying as the ceremony got the Olympics underway.
People liked seeing French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane as the first big cameo.
The athletes and celebs were spotted out and ready to go.
The fireworks and beautiful sights were lovely. But it was neat to see it take place along the river on boast.
Lady Gaga did not disappoint.
A lot is expected from the opening ceremony, including a reported performance from superstars Celine Dion and Lady Gaga. We we will likely see the internet get quite excited to see Dion, especially, make her return to the stage for the Olympics.
Gaga appeared and performed, sans Dion, doing a upbeat dance and song number in French. Gaga fans loved it.
Broadcast woes
There were some critiques of the NBC broadcast in the U.S., featuring Mike Tirico, Kelly Clarkson, and Peyton Manning.
A headless Marie Antoinette
Yes, a lead-in to a metal band playing a version of a Les Mis song featured Marie Antoinette holding her own, talking, disembodied head. It was a bit of a fever dream.
There were some….questions about a pre-filmed skit about love
Dancing, art, and a very French show
There were memes about the artsy, definitely French nature of the opening ceremony.
The Minions showed up
Yep, the Minions, which were apparently created by a French artist, had long, silly segment in the middle of the ceremony.
One metal-as-hell section
A favorite for lots of folks was a very metal, very flame-forward, pretty great performance from the French band Gojira.
This article is developing and will be updated…
‘Mothers’ Instinct’ review: Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain have a curious problem
When it comes to “Mothers’ Instinct,” not every movie needs to be ART. Review.
Somewhere between What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Carol lies Mothers’ Instinct. Set vaguely in the early 1960s, this psychological thriller thrusts two of America’s most thrilling actresses at each other in a queer-coded battle of wills and mental illness.
Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain star as a pair of (mostly) happy homemakers who live side by side in charming suburbia. Established cinematographer Benoît Delhomme makes his directorial debut here, draping the film in a dreamy pastel palette that cools as the plot kicks in. An untimely death throws these very, very close friends into a spiral of suspicion that threatens to not only end their bond but maybe even several lives along the way.
Steeped in tension and twisted possibilities, Mothers’ Instinct is a deliciously deranged drama that’s destined to find an audience that appreciates its brand of camp.
Mothers’ Instinct delivers a tale of motherhood and jealousy.
Hathaway stars as Celine, an unflappably chic housewife who is as beloved by her dashing husband Damian (Josh Charles) and chipper son Max as she is by the local PTA. But no one loves her as much as Alice does. Played by Chastain, the next-door neighbor/best friend looks at Celine with a yawning awe, not only for all Celine’s capable of but also how easy she makes it look.
While Celine is utterly content with her picture-perfect domesticity, Alice pines to return to work, hungry to be “more” than a wife and mother. Their differences fester when a tragic accident robs Celine of her only child, leaving her bereft and staring at the greener grass on her neighbor’s lawn — where a little boy still frolics.
Celine’s attitude chills so sharply toward Alice that she begins to wonder if her friend resents her. Desperate to reconnect, Alice gives all she can to her grief-stricken bosom buddy. But before long, she begins to wonder if Celine is scheming to take something more from her… maybe even revenge.
Mothers’ Instinct has a Lifetime movie plot with a queer undercurrent.
Based on Barbara Abel’s 2012 novel Behind the Hatred, Mothers’ Instinct plunges unapologetically into domestic terror, pitting two young mothers against each other in a war of emotion and manipulation. Because Alice has a history of mental illness, Celine’s hesitant to confess her suspicions to her husband, Simon (Anders Danielsen Lie). Which is probably for the best, as Simon is an insensitive oaf, ever ready to ignore his wife’s inconvenient feelings.
However, as bodies begin to pile up around the ballet flats of lovely Celine, Alice won’t be ignored. But how can she hit back at the woman she loves, even if that woman is turning homicidal?
A queer undercurrent brings a juicy layer to this plot line. The menfolk bop about the lawns and dining rooms, chortling and considering themselves kings of their castles, intentionally two-dimensional. They are nowhere near as real or alive to their wives as their wives are to each other. A sex scene between Alice and her husband is cut short when he declares he wants to impregnate her, a turn-off to a woman who dreams of passion, not more dirty diapers. Meanwhile, simple scenes where Alice and Celine dance together or console each other throb with intimacy and even (potentially one-sided) desire. Combined with Delhomme’s romantic palette, Mothers’ Instinct feels more Todd Haynes than Alfred Hitchcock. And it’s easy to imagine if circumstances were a little different, Alice might take Celine to lunch and declare her “flung out of space.”
Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain are Mothers’ Instinct biggest asset and its greatest obstacle.
Both actresses ably hip-swivel through the dastardly dance that is the movie’s most vicious turns. Hathaway offering a chilliness that is enticingly enigmatic, while Chastain is often on the brink of tears, eyes on fire. Together, they play a battle of love and hatred that is so twisted, intense, and entertaining that it recalls Robert Aldrich’s iconic psycho-biddy thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Hathaway and Chastain don’t go as theatrical as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford once did, but rightfully so; their at-war heroines are not decades into their festered bond. Still, their performances shimmy knowingly into camp.
But this might be the problem. Not the performances themselves, which are divinely committed and juicy, but the simple fact that Hathaway and Chastain are so respected and so damn famous. When Davis and Crawford went off the rails in that hagsploitation classic, they were aging leading ladies using their fading status to fuel the subtext of the showbiz horror gem. Watching them go feral was a bold and educated choice. (And it paid off, earning Davis a Best Actress Oscar nomination ten years after her last, plus a slew of other horror roles.)
Hathaway and Chastain are far from fading; they are still undeniable headliners and Oscar winners. So when they join forces for a movie, audiences might not expect something as willfully tawdry as Mothers’ Instinct. This is not a sophisticated thriller on par with Vertigo or even Dial M for Murder, but neither does it need to be to satisfy.
Hathaway is too interesting an actress to be relegated only to prestige pics. Recently, she elated critics in the flirty rom-com The Idea of You and the gnarly thriller Eileen. But personally, I most love her big swings, like when she played a toxic femme fatale in the psycho-sexual thriller Serenity or an alcoholic who accidentally manifests a rampaging kaiju in Colossal. Meanwhile, Chastain has mixed it up, leaping genres from the superhero flick X-Men: Dark Phoenix to the horror movie IT Chapter Two, to the utterly forgettable espionage thriller Ava. But after her Oscar win for her transformative performance in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, it’s about time she gets to cut loose with some trashy thrills. And she does just that in Mothers’ Instinct.
All this is to say, Mothers’ Instinct doesn’t reach the glorious heights of Hitchcock, or Haynes, or even Aldrich. Rather, Delhomme builds his domestic thriller in a valley in between. His heroines don’t reach the delicious camp hysteria of Davis or Crawford. They don’t pose in the elegant and openly queer yearning of Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. They might be formed in the mold of Hitchcock’s femme fatales, but to their credit, Hathaway and Chastain make these roles their own.
In the end, Mothers’ Instinct might not be great cinema, but it is great fun. Spiked with twisted turns, explosive emotions, and a feud that’s frightening and fun to behold, it’s a thriller well worth its gnashed teeth and salty tears.
Mothers’ Instinct opens in select theaters July 26 and on digital Aug. 13.