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Recent Examples of materfamiliasThe novel recounts the history and hardships of the Binewski clan, carnival folk whose pater- and materfamilias, Al and Crystal Lil, create their own freak show.—Elizabeth Hand, Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2022 But with tact and humanity, this materfamilias has still calmed the waters.—Boyd Van Hoeij, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Oct. 2019 Though the Roundabout production, which opened on Tuesday evening, stars Elizabeth McGovern as the materfamilias, the story really is Kay’s.—Jesse Green, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2017
The road continues from Beersheba to Hebron, home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, purchased by Abraham some 3,800 years ago and traditionally regarded as the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs.
—
Amelie Botbol,
FOXNews.com,
17 June 2026
Long before Helen Mirren played tenacious and terrifying matriarchs in 1923 and MobLand, the Oscar-winning icon had already proven her ability to play tough-as-nails characters in the classic British procedural Prime Suspect.
My mama strains both the yogurt and the cucumber before mixing everything together.
—
Georgina Hayden,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
15 June 2026
After making off with a substantial stack of cash from her job to fund a new life with boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin), she gets waylaid by a rainstorm and stops to spend the night at the Bates Motel, run by awkward mama’s boy Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).
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Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 June 2026