The plot focuses on three women on a camping excursion who fall victim to two deranged, murderous young men and their unhinged mother.

Upon its release, Mother's Day received criticism for its depiction of violence and rape, and was banned in the United Kingdom by the British Board of Film Classification.

During a Growth Opportunity graduation (a parody of Erhard Seminars Training), a couple named Terry and Charlie are offered a ride from an old woman and are driven into the woods.

After the old woman's car stalls, two inbred killers appear and attack; Charlie is decapitated with a machete in the backseat while Terry is brutally beaten up before being garroted by the old lady.

Jackie, who lives in New York City, has planned a camping trip for them in the Deep Barrens, a forested area in rural New Jersey.

Trina, a glamorous model living in Los Angeles, and Abbey, who returned to Chicago after college to care for her ailing mother, travel to New Jersey, where Jackie picks them up.

With their vengeance complete, the two girls make a burial for Jackie and prepare to leave the woods before they are suddenly attacked by Queenie who leaps at them from behind the bushes.

[2] Critic Phil Hardy has similarly noted: "As satire, Mother's Day works rather well, opening with a knock at encounter groups...  and moving on to make a swipe at American motherhood.

The film ends as a gross parody of consumerism, with McGuire and McQuade eating junk cereals by the bucketful, endlessly arguing whether punk is better than disco, collecting Sesame Street and Star Trek merchandising and raping and killing, 'just like I seen on TV'".

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Any traces of talent and dark humor that might show through Mother's Day are drowned by the cynicism and horrendousness of the entire enterprise".

[5] Roger Ebert famously despised the film, giving it zero stars in a review and saying how disgusted he was at its violence, gore, rape and torture during "Sneak Previews", writing "the question of why anyone of any age would possibly want to see this movie remains without an answer".

[9] Ted Serrill of The Central New Jersey Home News criticized the "cartoonish acting and awkward camera set-ups", as well as its failure "to generate terror, much less suspense".

[10] Catherine Chapin of The Charlotte Observer panned the film for its violent content, writing that it "makes censorship seem like a good idea", and that it "has no socially redeeming warning message".

The remake of Mother's Day directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and produced by Brett Ratner[23] was released at Fantastic Fest in September 2010 and in the United Kingdom in June 2011.