Holy Mother! of #$%@

Seldom can a movie be brilliant, effective, moving, and simultaneously horrendous. Darren Aronofsky’s “Mother!” is a reminder that a movie doesn’t have to comfort or satisfy its audience in order to be a quality film. From beginning to end, the (literally) madhouse psychological horror is disturbing and unsettling, with help from compelling performances from Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, and nauseating cinematography by Matthew Libatique.
The fanbase for Mother! was minimal by design. The film is an adaptation of the Christian Bible, seeing the unnamed “Poet,” brilliantly portrayed by Bardem, as God, and his unnamed wife as Mother Nature. Aronofsky follows ‘Mother’ as unwelcome guests are embraced by her unwittingly enthusiastic husband. Themes of man’s inherent evil nature and affinity for death and corruption are so violently showcased that the majority of religious enthusiasts likely to understand are consequently also likely to be offended.
This isn’t to say that only religious enthusiasts will get it. The film is disappointingly on-the-nose at times, with brief moments like Bardem covering the gashed rib cage of a sick Ed Harris prior to the arrival of Harris’s wife, Michelle Pfieffer – a reference to Eve having been made of dust and Adam’s rib. The film has common elements of religion that have been integrated into much of American society, but showcases them from a different angle.
There are long tracking shots that follow protagonist Mother (Lawrence) room-to-room with an air of unfamiliarity, sometimes seemingly through leaps of time. The ever-changing and psychotic characteristics of the house and the company it keeps plays out frantically. Libatique’s unique cinematography drags the audience through Mother’s world, often in a spinning and dizzying way, which compliments the uneasy tone of the circumstances.
There is an unknowing that plagues the film. Much, again, like a nightmare, the bizarre occurrences are accepted with a familiarity by some characters; contrarily, the title character stumbles through the mess as baffled as the audience. This works to question the integrity of normality. We’re constantly questioning whether (Him) Bardem is evil or optimistic in his pursuits.
Lawrence herself delivers an incredible and often moving performance. From the start of the film, her discomfort and feeling of intrusion to events that unfold are made known through mere looks and moments. She is loved and empathized with immediately, which consequently results in an excruciating couple of hours. Excruciating.
There are moments when the merciless abuse – both mental and graphically physical – becomes hard to watch. The film dances on a fine line between purposeful imagery and shock-value grotesqueness. In the closing half of the film, there are few moments that allow the scenes to breathe. So much time is spent making points that the film begins to lose basic structure. Things stop making plausible sense and wander into the obscure, which opens itself to being lost, if not understood.
It is very apparent why the sharp divide among moviegoers on this one: Those who understand the film are likely to be offended; those who don’t are likely to be dumbfounded by the noise.
The film feels like a burden that begs a question that can’t be answered in a cycle that can’t be broken. Mother! is another powerful stroke of genius from an acclaimed director, Aronofsky, that delivers thought provoking-disaster laced with beauty and is also a movie I never care to see again.

Advocate Staff