For her directorial and screenwriting debut, actor Kristin Scott Thomas retreats to tried and tired formulas in My Mother’s Wedding to tell an autobiographical story. Luckily for Thomas, she’s been blessed with star-power who can not only sell this routine family dramedy, but can also make the movie out to be a matinee must-see.

Thomas also co-stars as bride-to-be Diana. Diana, twice widowed by men who both served in the Royal Navy, is excited to be marrying mild-mannered Geoff (James Fleet). Her daughters (Match Point’s Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller of Factory Girl, and Emily Beecham of AMC’s Into the Badlands) are either concerned or curious about their mother’s third shot at love. The siblings, however, are still grieving in their own separate ways. Despite losing their fathers at a young age, their trauma is stirred up in their careers or in situations with their current partners.

While My Mother’s Wedding is certainly a shared ensemble piece that feels reminiscent of Netflix’s reboot of The Four Seasons (although this film came first), this endeavour is still a big win for Kristen Scott Thomas. The scenes between Diana and her daughters are the film’s strongest assets, as we see Thomas shaping her co-stars’ performances in the moment. At the same time, the writer/director is clearly a fan of filmmakers who consider themselves “an actor’s director” as Thomas steps out of the way for Johansson, Miller and Beecham to make an impression on the audience.

A few slips here and there, such as Johansson’s wishy-washy accent and a night scene that appears as though it was shot during the daytime, remind us that My Mother’s Wedding is far from perfect. The potential is there, however, and the production knows how to tap into it often.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie