By Juan Markos
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/07/2025 I recently watched the charming and original film “Greek Mothers Never Die”, written and directed by Rachel Suissa. This romantic comedy has a hint of the paranormal and offers a sweet and endearing story about a daughter’s bond with her mother. At first, I didn’t really like the mother character; she comes across as a bit smothering, which I think is characteristic of Greek mothers. However, her intensity is amusing and comical, and she also displays a somewhat manipulative side. There are a few mentions of her paying people off to control her daughter.
The film begins with a backstory involving the mother and her father before conceiving Ella, played by Abby Miner. They live in Greece and seem happy at first. Ella meets Nick as a child in Greece, but he later moves to New York. He tells Ella he’ll be gone for a few weeks, but months pass without his return. Following the father’s death and the escalating chaos in Greece, they move to Florida.
Things take a dark turn when Ella’s mother, played by Rachel Suissa, suffers a heart attack and dies during a comedic mother-daughter conflict. Afterward, Ella reunites with her childhood love, Nick, played by Simon Rérolle, who happens to be the doctor in the emergency room where she ends up after bumping her head. Her mother’s ghost haunts her from beyond the grave, continuing to manipulate her. As Ella rekindles her feelings for Nick, he’s now somewhat of a jerk. She loses her virginity to him, only for him to refer to her as a friend or sister afterward.
The film is funny, and Ella’s interactions with her mother’s ghost are prominent throughout. At one point, Ella curses Nick, but he ultimately has a change of heart after watching footage of her at an event she caters. He realizes she is experiencing hallucinations and other symptoms, which lead to a revelation that her mother’s haunting was just a side effect of a condition she was facing. In the end, she ends up with Nick. I’m a bit torn about this because I found his earlier actions unforgivable. Although it has a happy ending, I suspect he may become a cheater down the line.
The film is cute and fun to watch, and I really enjoyed the side characters, including Nick’s obnoxious friend Tod, played by Kelby Roberson, who I think is the next big thing.
I had the opportunity to interview Rachel Suissa at the LA Greek Film Festival, where she shared insights about her film before I had a chance to watch it. She mentioned that it was inspired by her own life, and now I’m really curious about which parts of the story are drawn from her personal experiences. Was it the love story or the mother haunting her? I was also surprised to learn that she played the mother, but she delivered an amazing performance.
Greek Mothers Never Die is available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0DSB1NTKT/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
