The mother-son relationship has a profound impact on characters and audiences alike. In literature and cinema, this bond can:

On screen, the 21st century has given us two masterpieces that subvert the Oedipal script. First, We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), directed by Lynne Ramsay. Tilda Swinton plays Eva, a mother who never wanted a child. From his infancy, Kevin resents her, and she, in turn, cannot fake love. The film is a radical, almost blasphemous exploration: what if the mother and son are locked not in love, but in mutual, quiet hatred? Kevin grows up to commit a school massacre, and the film refuses to let Eva off the hook. It also refuses to let Kevin be a simple monster. Their relationship is a feedback loop of rejection and violence. The final scene, where Eva visits Kevin in prison and he asks for her forgiveness, only to watch her leave in silence, is the most devastating image of maternal ambivalence ever filmed.

Some notable films and literary works that explore the mother-son relationship include: