Don’t let the dumb girlboss title fool you, Don’t Call Me Mama isn’t Babygirl. It’s not trying to blend into the recent stream of sexy MILFs and handsome younger men affair stories. It may seem like that from the first act, but it ends up being an extremely brutal and harsh commentary on power dynamics based on age, gender, but above else, race and class. The film uses the affair between a bored wife and mother and an 18-year-old Syrian refugee she takes in and quickly becomes obsessed with to illuminate the drastic differences between them based on privilege and power. Interestingly, Don’t Call Me Mama has an extremely similar plot to another film showing at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Michel Franco’s Dreams. Dreams is a much harder-hitting film, for better or worse, but Don’t Call Me Mama’s message and conviction are more cohesive than Franco’s, due to its derailing finale. Competing for the festival’s Crystal Globe, Nina Knag’s film is a well-balanced exploration of how lust makes people act out in the most destructive of ways, and how race and class make the consequences of those ways devastatingly disproportionate.
‘Don’t Call Me Mama’ Follows the Affair Between a Teacher and a Syrian Refugee

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Eva (Pia Tjelta) is a high-school teacher in a Norwegian town who is unhappily married to the mayor (Kristoffer Joner). An affair of his from the past still looms large over their marriage, preventing Eva from wanting to be intimate with her husband, despite having seemingly forgiven him. Being the wife of a prominent figure in the town, Eva feels at the center of the local gossip and politics. She begins volunteering as a language teacher at the local refugee center, which is where she meets the handsome, charming, and smart Amir (Tarek Zayat). The two quickly form a close connection, and at the prospect of Amir having to move town, Eva invites him to live in their home. Things quickly turn romantic and sexual, with Eva experiencing a new lease of life. Eva finds out that Amir has been lying about his past and identity, but she continues to help him make a life for himself, as he applies to a local academy to further his education. But just as Eva is in the throes of an all-consuming infatuation, something she considers to be true love, Amir starts pulling away from her, and Eva, feeling rejected and embarrassed, is willing to resort to unthinkable measures to save face.
‘Don’t Call Me Mama’ Balances Its Affair Storyline With Its Political Undertones

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Don’t Call Me Mama is as much about lust and obsession as it is a confrontation of interracial power dynamics. Compared to Dreams, it is a lot more optimistic in that its presentation of white people trying to help improve the lives of refugees is genuine. But in the relationship between Eva and Amir, it reminds audiences of the inherent power white people yield that can make or break the lives of immigrants and non-white folk. Eva starts out the film as a compelling protagonist, slighted by her husband’s affair but so centrally positioned in her town that she panders to the pressure to portray a perfect life. Her sexual relationship with Amir starts out passionate, joyous, and intimate, as she seems to truly want to make his life better and see him thrive and build a successful life in Norway.

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But when Amir starts pulling out of the relationship, we see it all falls apart as Eva spirals into a destructive rage. She’s already a morally gray character, having sex with a barely legal person in an incredibly vulnerable position, while lying and gaslighting those closest to her. But seeing her become a shell of who she once was is what makes the film so jarring. It’s a drama about a saucy affair, but the social and political undercurrents are what elevate it to be something much more substantial than the likes of Babygirl. Its devastating ending is the final gut-punch that cements that while Amir casts an obsessive spell on Eva, leaving her in the palm of his hands, her whiteness and class status enable her to irrevocably ruin his life.
A Raw Portrait of Affairs and the Destruction They Bring Is Played Out With Two Great Leads

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Beyond its politics, Don’t Call Me Mama is also a refreshingly raw portrait of affairs, especially those with large age gaps. The recent MILF craze of films has leaned more into saucy stories of sexual liberation or silly comedies, while Don’t Call Me Mama is more interested in showing the trail of damage these types of illicit relationships can leave. It’s unflinching in how brutal and mean lust, love, infatuation, whatever it is, can be, and how it can cause people to transmogrify into versions of themselves they don’t recognize. Nina Knag’s script, co-written with Kathrine Valen Zeiner, does an exceptional job of combining personal conflicts with bigger social and political issues, never letting the larger message get lost in the drama and raunchiness of it all. Knag’s direction stays close and intimate throughout, putting the audience uncomfortably close to the secrets, lies, and damage. A character nearly catching Eva and Amir having sex feels like a jump scare as Knag charges every shot with static tension. Knag stays tight on her characters to capture the differences between what people say and what’s on their face, which works to her benefit when the film takes a more psychological thriller tone. Playing an ill-fated couple who bring out the worst in each other (well, mostly just her), Pia Tjelta and Tarek Zayat have some palpable chemistry that makes buying into their ill-advised love affair quite easy. It’s never so natural that their relationship doesn’t feel wrong, but their initial connection and chemistry help to raise the stakes of their being together. Tjelta, in particular, gives a dynamic performance, putting in care to establish Eva as a protagonist worth investing in before she embarks on a path of ruination. She doesn’t play into the female jilted lover archetype, as many can feel like they’re doing a Glen Close impersonation. But her performance does get into the weeds of how ugly romance can turn. Tarek Zayat plays opposite her beautifully, making Amir much more than a victim of his circumstances, imbuing him with a contagious optimism that makes the eventual death of it all the more tragic. Some might find Don’t Call Me Mama’s funneling of such current and sensitive issues through a raunchy affair storyline to be bastardizing the weight of its political themes. But it ends up being more confronting as it shows the inherent white privilege of even those who claim to be doing their best to help the cause. It’s a harsh, carefully crafted, and raw film with committed performances and a finale so brutal it’ll be long before you can shake it after the credits roll. Don’t Call Me Mama had its world premiere at the 2025 Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Don’t Call Me Mama

Don’t Call Me Mama is an emotionally-charged look at white privilege and the destruction lust and power can lead to.

Release Date

October 10, 2025

Runtime

108 Minutes

Director

Nina Knag

Writers

Nina Knag, Kathrine Valen Zeiner

Pros & Cons

The film astutely confronts issues of racial injustice through its personal and intimate story.
The cast give brilliant performances.
The finale is the sobering gut-punch that empowers the film’s message.

Some may find the relationship to be too uncomfortable to look past.
The cheesy title misrepresents the film’s meaning.