| “ | Reverend Mother: Clever little bear. I was rather hoping you would. Paddington: Reverend Mother? Mr. Brown : What on earth are you doing? Clarissa: Why same as everyone else my dear, looking for gold so thank you very much for leading me straight to it as I knew you would. |
„ |
| ~ Reverend Mother/Clarissa Cabot revealing her true colors to Paddington and The Brown Family |
| “ | Thank you very much me as I knew you would. Well it would be if I were really related to find gold disguised as a job at home retired bracelet and I knew that you would be the one to lead me to El Dorado bracelet. Paddington was round she pulled that rive and arranged for your disappearance until you found Aunt Lucy from me, Paddington. | „ |
| ~ Clarissa Cabot revealing her true nature to Paddington and The Brown family |
Clarissa Cabot, also and commonly known as The Reverend Mother, is the main antagonist of the 2024 family comedy film Paddington in Peru.
She is a greedy treasure hunter who has a family curse that makes her obsessed with finding El Dorado, the lost city of gold.
She was portrayed by Olivia Colman, who also played Madame Thenardier in the Les Miserables miniseries, Godmother in Fleabag, PAL in The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Mama Bear in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Mrs. Scrubitt in Wonka.
Biography[]
Background[]
Nothing is completely known about Clarissa's past as most of it is shrouded in mystery, though that she, like most of her family, was a treasure hunter looking for gold.
During her time exploring the jungle, she went to find the treasure, but realized that the treasure had something to do with bears. Sometime afterwards, she would disguise herself as a nun at the Home for Retired Bears to hide investigation for years while hiding from the police.
Clarissa is a member of the Cabot family. Like her cousin, Hunter Cabot, she is cursed with an obsession of finding El Dorado, the lost city of gold. Her search lead her to discover that the city had something to do with bears, so she disguised herself as a nun and took a job at the Home for Retired Bears in Peru. For years, her research lead to nothing until one day, Aunt Lucy showed her a bracelet she had found on her nephew Paddington's leg when she first found him. Clarissa then tricked Aunt Lucy into going onto a boat that took her down river. Clarissa stole Aunt Lucy's glasses so that she would get lost. She then left clues in Aunt Lucy's room that would lead Paddington to believe that Aunt Lucy was searching for El Dorado.
Paddington in Peru[]
At the start of the film, Clarissa sent a letter to Paddington, informing him that Aunt Lucy deeply misses him and is acting strangely, so Paddington and the Browns decided to go to Peru to visit her. Upon arriving in Peru, Clarissa told them that Aunt Lucy had gone missing in the jungle, leaving behind only her glasses and her bracelet. Paddington found a map (that was planted by Clarissa) in Aunt Lucy's cabin indicating they should start their search at a place called Rumi Rock; Mrs. Bird and Clarissa stayed behind and Clarissa gave Mrs. Brown a pendant for "good luck".
Mrs. Bird grew suspicious of the "Reverend Mother" and discovered a secret room where Clarissa revealed that the pendant she gave to Mrs. Brown is actually a tracker. Now knowing their location, Mrs. Bird and the Reverend Mother flew in with a plane to rescue the Browns and Hunter's daughter Gina.
The plane descended at the entrance to El Dorado where Paddington was being chased by Hunter Cabot. Clarissa then pulled a gun on the group and revealed her true identity, but Hunter and Gina were able to incapacitate her, thus freeing Hunter of the family curse.
In the end, as punishment for her crimes, Clarissa is forced by the Church to become a real nun and work in the North Pole at a home for retired polar bears, much to her horror.
Quotes[]
| “ | Reverend Mother: Oh these satellite phones are very temperamental. Mrs Bird: Oh no, no, it's not that. It's like this building is filled with electrical interfence. Reverend Mother: It's a very old building, Mrs. Bird, nothing suspicious about it. |
„ |
| “ | Reverend Mother: Do you play, Mrs. Bird? Mrs. Bird: What's behind this organ? Reverend Mother: Oh, nothing to be concerned about. Mrs. Bird: What about the lights and humming? Reverend Mother: It's just a secret room. Mrs. Bird: A secret room? What have you got in there? Reverend Mother: Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you. Mrs Bird: That's strange. Reverend Mother: I don't know what you're finding strange about it, Mrs. Bird. It's just a secret room behind an organ and I can't tell you what's inside it. Nothing suspicious about it. Mrs. Bird: You know that is the second time you used the word "suspicious". Reverend Mother: Oh, is it? Well, the Lord moves in suspicious ways. Mrs. Bird: You mean "mysterious ways"? Reverend Mother: You know your scripture, Mrs. Bird? |
„ |
| “ | Mrs. Bird: This place looks like an evil lair. Reverend Mother: Oh, I assure you it's not. Mrs. Bird: Then what is it? Reverend Mother: What it is is a perfectly innocent secret surveillance control system. |
„ |
| “ | Reverend Mother: No, because they'd be too slow. We must go ourselves. Mrs. Bird: I thought you didn't go tracking in the jungle. Thought it gave you the "heebie-newbies". Reverend Mother: I wasn't planning on tracking it. |
„ |
| “ | Mrs. Brown: This is a bit un-Christian, isn't it? Reverend Mother: Well, it would be if I were really a nun. |
„ |
| ~ Clarissa revealing herself to not be a nun |
| “ | Hunter: Clarissa? But you are dead, you died in the jungle. Mr. Brown: They're related? Hunter: And you went to find yourself? Clarissa: No, I went to find gold. I never stopped looking and when I found out it has something to do with bears, I disguised myself as a nun at the Home for Retired Bears. Years I was stuck there with those "mangy furbags". Paddington: How rude. Clarissa: One day, Aunt Lucy showed me her bracelet and I knew you'd be the one to take me to El Dorado. |
„ |
| ~ Clarissa to Hunter, revealing to have been infiltrating as a nun and that she was using Paddington |
| “ | Paddington: Why me? Clarissa: Oh, she never told you? It’s your bracelet, Paddington, it was around your ankle when she pulled you out of that river. I knew that if anyone would show me the way, it would be you. So I'd lure you to Peru and I'd arrange for your aunt's disappearance. I knew you'd never rest til you found Aunt Lucy, so from a little help from me. You led me right here, so please give me that talisman, thank you. |
„ |
| “ | Clarissa: Hand it over or I'll shoot Hunter: With great grandpa's musket? The thing is over a hundred years old. It wouldn't even work. Clarissa: Should we put it to the test? |
„ |
| ~ Clarissa blackmailing Hunter into giving her the talisman by threatening to shoot Gina |
| “ | The gold or your daughter. | „ |
| ~ Clarissa threatening to kill Gina if Hunter doesn't give her the golden talisman |
| “ | Cabots don't share!!! | „ |
| ~ Clarissa, Gina, and Hunter reminding the Brown family that the Cabot family does not share |
Trivia[]
- Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas worked together before in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
- There were a few subtle hints that foreshadow that she was a treasure hunter:
- She told Paddington and the Browns that Aunt Lucy disappeared to Peru. Paddington knows that Aunt Lucy would never leave out of nowhere without her glasses.
- She tells Mrs. Bird about nothing being "suspicious" twice.
- When she informs Mrs. Bird about the Browns' safety while explaining the whereabouts of them in the jungle, Mrs. Bird insists they should call the authorities for help, but Clarissa stops her from doing it, almost as if it was to avoid being arrested.
- When telling Mrs. Bird they have to go to the jungle to rescue the Browns, she asked Clarissa on why she would want to despite not having gone to the jungle before.
- One of her ankle arms has a tattoo on her elbow, almost as if she was a relative of Hunter and Gina which Gina noticed.
- During her reveal as a treasure hunter, she said that she dislikes bears. However, Olivia Colman voiced Mama Bear from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
- Her punishment for her crimes at the end of the movie is very similar to that of Millicent Clyde, as they both end up being forced to work at a miserable place related to their crimes, a petting zoo for Millicent for being so cruel to animals, and being made to become a real nun for using that as a disguise for Clarissa.
External Links[]
- Clarissa Cabot on the Paddington Wiki