A son's letter to a mother who cannot read, exploring the scars of war. Ben Is Back (Film)

Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex remains the definitive exploration of the subconscious pull between mother and son, establishing the "Oedipal" framework that centuries of writers have both embraced and subverted.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) introduced the world to Norma Bates, a character whose psychological grip on her son Norman continues long after her death, setting the standard for horror’s "devouring mother" trope.