Five women share how watching Lady Bird changed the way they see their mother.

A funny thing happened after I watched Lady Bird in a cinema packed with women.

Moments after the credits rolled, we were all hit by a very similar and somewhat peculiar feeling. A feeling that made us all want to reach out to our mums, to tell them we loved them, to thank them and in some cases to offer up a very long-awaited apology.

Hands quickly fished around in bags to retrieve phones and  as we all made our way to waiting Ubers and packed trains, a whole of mums across the country began receiving phone calls and messages from their daughters.

Such is the power of Lady Bird, a truly beautiful film written and directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Laurie Metcalf and the incredible Saoirse Ronan as Christine, AKA “Lady Bird”.

Spanning 2002 and 2003, the film follows Lady Bird, a high-school senior who dreams of escaping her dreary hometown of Sacramento to attend college in New York.

It's a coming of age tale, but even more than that, it's an emotional and unflinching look at the relationship between a mother and a daughter.

A relationship that's never been captured on the big screen in this way before.

Here's what five women had to say about Lady Bird straight after seeing the movie:

Mary-Anne:

"I did text my mum just after I watched Lady Bird to say "I love you" just because! The movie definitely made me reflect on being a teenager and had me re-thinking everything from my mum's point of view, now with the hindsight of being an adult and understanding the pressures of the real world."

Laura: 

Briony:

"Lady Bird was the most authentic portrayal of the high school experience I've ever seen in a movie. The relationship that Lady Bird had with her parents was so real and relatable. I found it very moving when Lady Bird's mum told her how much she loves her, but then Lady Bird challenges her to answer if she actually likes her as a person. I'd never thought about a mother/daughter relationship in that way.

I left the cinema and immediately wanted to give my mum a hug and say thank you for loving me unconditionally and always wanting the best for me."

Kim:

"LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie! After watching Lady Bird it definitely made me think about my mum and the relationship that we have. Our relationship is nowhere near as dramatic as the one in the film, but I loved how Lady Bird would defend her mum anytime her friends criticized her. I think that's something most daughters would do."

Janine:

"I really enjoyed Lady Bird. I loved the raw aspect of the film, showing the realities of life.

"I especially loved how it depicted what it's actually like to live with your mum - from a moment of anguish to a moment of fun and laughter. It made me reflect upon my relationship with my own mum when I was a teenager and looking at how she may have viewed my decisions through her lens of love and care."

Lady Bird is now playing in cinemas across Australia.  

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