It is based upon the 2008 novel Whatever Makes You Happy by William Sutcliffe and follows three suburban mothers who show up at their sons' New York City homes unannounced.

The film received generally mixed to negative reviews, although Huffman's performance was critically praised.

That night as she preps a meal for Paul's housemates, his boyfriend tells her a lot of his insecurity comes from abandonment issues as, after her divorce, she never had time for him.

They accompany Helen to the restaurant where she is to have lunch with Paul, and he reveals he was a sperm donor for lesbian friends.

When he realises she hasn't returned, he gathers Paul and Daniel and they find their three moms, nursing hangovers in Gillian's hotel room.

Julia helps Matt to write the 10 things he knows about Carol, which he sends to her with a bouquet of her favorite flowers.

One year later at Gillian's house in Poughkeepsie, before Daniel and a pregnant Erin tie the knot, Carol comes.

In April 2018, Patricia Arquette and Angela Bassett joined the cast of the film, with Cindy Chupack directing the film, from a screenplay written by Chupack and Mark Andrus, based upon the novel Whatever Makes You Happy by William Sutcliffe.

Jason Michael Berman and Cathy Schulman will produce the film, under their Mandalay Pictures and Welles Entertainment banners, respectively.

However, because of Felicity Huffman's involvement in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal, the release date was postponed to August 2, 2019.

[10] On October 17, 2019, Netflix announced that the film had been viewed by over 29 million viewers after its release on their platform.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Otherhood wastes its three talented leading actresses on a forgettable dramedy about motherhood that lacks humor and feels forced.

"[12] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".