Gia is a 24-year-old pregnant woman with two children (Trey and Shaynah) in foster care. She struggles to support herself financially and has missed child support payments. In her parenting classes, Gia remains silent. She considers giving her unborn baby up for adoption. Her friend Trina strongly objects to this, saying that it's a mother's God-given right and responsibility to raise her own children. Gia meets with potential adopters Paul and Monica (who have a daughter named Amber). During the meeting, it's revealed that Gia's aspirations to go to college were derailed with the birth of her son, and that she now has "different dreams."
Although Gia likes Paul, Monica, and Amber, she has second thoughts about putting her baby up for adoption. She has an argument with Trina, who continues to assert that a mother should be with her own children. Soon afterwards, Gia does drugs and hallucinates walking naked through a forest. Gia eventually gives birth to her baby, and is reprimanded for doing drugs while pregnant. Gia sorrowfully apologizes to her baby.
Paul and Monica adopt the baby. In court, Gia requests permission to spend more time with Trey and Shaynah. The film ends with Gia staring out into a body of water.
Earth Mama had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2023. The film was released in the United States by A24 on July 7, 2023.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 58 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10.The website's consensus reads: "Heavy yet hopeful, Earth Mama is a moving look at single motherhood on the margins that features outstanding work from writer-director Savanah Leaf and star Tia Nomore."[10]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 84 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]
Ronda Racha Penrice of TheWrap praised the film, noting first-time director Savanah Leaf's "ability to transmit great emotional depth in small snapshots."[12] Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter described it as "a quiet film, but it never once loosens its grip," and that it "operates on an intimate register, a level that speaks to its characters instead of about them."[13]
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