In We Do Our Best, writer-director Hannah Rose Ammon crafts a tender, perceptive coming-of-age story set over the course of one unforgettable night in New York City. The film follows a single mother (Jennifer Esposito) who sneaks her teenage daughter (Madalynn Mathews) into a Manhattan cocktail lounge, a playful act that cracks opens a space for deeper reflection, quiet revelations, unexpected intimacy, and a shared reckoning with growing up.
Inspired by a moment from Ammon’s own adolescence, the film carries a deeply personal undercurrent that invites viewers to reflect on their own complex parent-child relationships, especially during the complicated period when we’re on the cusp of adulthood. The dialogue is spare but incisive, with pauses and sidealong glances, giving us an insightful glimpse into the emotional terrain of these characters and their burdens.
Esposito delivers a luminous performance as the mother, bringing tenderness, weariness, and a rich sense of lived experience to the role. Opposite her, Mathews is a revelation, subtle and honest, capturing the precociousness of youth with startling accuracy.
Esposito delivers a luminous performance
We Do Our Best gently confronts the bittersweet truth that there’s a side to our parents that we will never fully understand or engage with. With grace and restraint, Ammon explores the quiet unraveling of roles, how the lines between parent and child blur, and how both sides carry their own unfinished versions of growing up. In doing so, the film offers a quietly radical insight that our parents are also trying their best to navigate the unpredictability of life.
With grace and restraint, Ammon explores the quiet unraveling of roles
Brian Cotter
