When Sophie, a young and adventurous girl, sends three wedding invitations to three guys who could potentially be her father, chaos, drama, and numerous ABBA hits ensue!
Released on July 18th, 2008, Mamma Mia quickly became a hit. In the UK, it was the fastest-selling DVD of all time, selling 1,669,084 copies on the first day of its release. This amount broke the previous record, which was for the movie Titanic, which sold 560,000 copies. Towards the end of 2008, Mamma Mia had sold over 5 million copies. In total, Mamma Mia made a total of $706.4 million dollars.
The film is set on a fictional island in Greece named Kalokairi and it opens with Sophie, the main character, who is played by Amanda Seyfried riding in a boat to the mainland, singing ABBA’s “I have a dream” to deliver three wedding invitations to her potential fathers, Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Bill Anderson (Stellen Skarsgård), and Harry Bright (Colin Firth), whom she found out about after reading her mom, Donna’s, diary when she was pregnant with Sophie. It then cuts to Sophie telling her two bridesmaids and best friends, Ali and Lisa, that she invited her three potential fathers and hopes to reveal who her true father is before she marries Sky (Dominic Cooper), her fiancé. The trio immediately burst into song, singing ABBA’s “Honey, Honey” while they run back to Donna’s hotel, where Donna (Meryl Streep) is preparing for the wedding.
Eventually, Donna’s two friends, Tanya and Rosie, arrive on the island to help Donna with the wedding. Soon after, Sophie’s three potential fathers show up at the hotel, and Sophie quickly rushes them to a small attic in an old goat house, in fear that her mom will see them and freak out. Donna then finds them there and is shocked to see all of them because she hasn’t seen them in many years and has no idea why they are all three at her hotel the weekend of her daughter’s wedding.
Sophie secretly meets with her three potential fathers at different times, trying to get to know them better while keeping her mom from knowing why they are here or how she knows who they are. At the same time, Donna is struggling to keep it together, knowing her daughter’s three potential fathers are on the island and that she has to take great care to make sure Sophie never finds out about them, even though Sophie already knows.
The characters in the movie go through various ups and downs as they deal with relationships and the upcoming wedding. ABBA hits such as “Dancing Queen”, “Mamma Mia”, “Super Trouper”, and many more are sprinkled in throughout the movie. Each ABBA song featured in the movie helps bring energy and joy, and helps move the story along in a fun, lively way. The well-known songs of ABBA make the movie so much more enjoyable and will have any person watching dancing and singing along!
As the day of the wedding arrives, everyone comes together for the ceremony to celebrate. During the wedding, secret truths are revealed about Sophie’s real father, and chaos and confusion erupt. In the end, the celebration of a wedding happens, and a great Abba musical number happens featuring the whole cast, followed by more Abba hits, closing the movie.
Mamma Mia! was such a hit that in 2018, a sequel was released! Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was released on June 20th, 2018, and made a total of $402.3 million. The movie continues the story of Sophie on the island, but also goes back in time to show Donna fresh out of college, and how she first met Sam, Bill, and Harry. The sequel also features even more ABBA hits and includes a lot of the original cast members, but also introduces some new characters, one played by Cher.
Overall, I think Mamma Mia is a great choice if you are in the mood for a fun, feel-good musical movie! The wide variety of songs, the beautiful scenery of Greece, and the storyline make it enjoyable for all ages. Even after being released 18 years ago, Mamma Mia continues to be a movie that people love and enjoy worldwide!
