Anyone going to watch mother! expecting to see a traditional horror film probably saw the trailer before and was intrigued, like most of the audience. However, Darren Aronofsky’s new film is far from it and proves how a smart marketing campaign can attract a lot of attention.

Anyone who has watched Black Swan or Requiem for a Dream, also directed by him, is somewhat familiar with his film style. Nothing, however, can properly prepare us for what mother! presents.

The film features a couple played by Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem living in an isolated house. Both characters are not named, so Javier Bardem appears in the credits as “Him” and Jennifer Lawrence appears as “Mother”, although they have no children at the beginning of the movie. He is a poet with a creative block while she is dedicated to building and renovating the house, which appears destroyed at the beginning of the story. She even says that she wants to build “a paradise”.

One night, a doctor, played by Ed Harris, appears at the door and asks for shelter. Just like the other characters, he has no name and is credited as “Man”. This Man reveals he’s a fan the poet’s, who welcomes him, despite the protests of Jennifer Lawrence’s character. The next day, Michelle Pfeiffer, “Woman” and wife of “Man”, also appears and treats her hostess terribly, despite admiring the poet.

Other characters appear and, with them, more “clues” to show the allegory that the director wants to tell the audience of a famous story already known by the most people. There may be some disagreements about the complete interpretation of the film, but Darren himself said during interviews that he would like to make a movie about “the mother of all of us.”

It may not be a very enlightening explanation, but the movie was produced in such a way that any further information spoils the actual story being portrayed.

Jennifer Lawrence is the central character and appears in almost all of the scenes, with most of them with close-ups. There are so many close-ups that the audience, in fact, begins to feel what she is feeling, especially in the third act. And that’s when mother! goes from being a possibly interesting allegory to an extremely disturbing, desperate, and agonizing film.

The final scenes are very graphic, much too loud and extremely violent. It is virtually impossible not to feel uncomfortable with what is happening on the screen and most people in the session I attended wanted the film to end as quickly as possible.

It is, without a doubt, a way the director has found to express his anguish, but it does not justify driving everyone insane with him. Probably mother! is one of those films you either love or hate, but it sure will attract the curiosity of everyone.

Related posts:

Review: Mother’s Day (2016) Review: Joy (2015) Review: Beauty and the Beast (2017) Review: The Circle (2017)

Powered by YARPP.