My Mom Jayne is a 2025 documentary film directed by Mariska Hargitay. The film examines the life of Hargitay's late mother, Jayne Mansfield. The film had its world premiere in the Cannes Classics section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2025, where it was nominated for the L'Œil d'or. It received a limited theatrical release on June 20, 2025, and was released on HBO and HBO Max on June 27, 2025.
Production
Director Mariska Hargitay was only three years old when her mother, actress Jayne Mansfield, died in a car accident. Hargitay stated, "This movie is a labor of love and longing. It's a search for the mother I never knew, an integration of a part of myself I'd never owned, and a reclaiming of my mother's story and my own truth." While her family was initially hesitant about her choice to make the documentary, they gave their blessing and agreed to appear in the film. In the documentary, Hargitay also went public with the story of her biological father, Nelson Sardelli.
Release
The film was announced on April 8, 2025. It premiered in the Cannes Classics section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2025.
It screened at the Tribeca Festival from June 13 to 15, 2025, and received a limited theatrical release on June 20, 2025 through which it qualified for consideration for an Oscar nomination. It was released on HBO, as well as HBO's streaming service HBO Max, on June 27, 2025.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 37 critics' reviews are positive. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
