Hints of Rosemary's Baby but nowhere near as good as that classic

Rating: 3/10 (17 September 2017)

"Mother!" (2017 release; 125 min.) brings the story of a couple living in a remote house. The woman wakes up, but her husband is up and about already. We later learn that he is a well-known writer but suffering from writer's block, and that she is restoring the house room by room. Then out of the blue a man comes knocking on the door and the husband invited him in, even though he doesn't know him. Turns out the guy thought their place was a bed-and-breakfast. To the wife's surprise and dismay, her husband invites the man to stay the night. Then the next morning, the stranger's wife comes knocking at the door... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from writer-director Darren Aronofsky, who previously brought us the excellent "Black Swan" and "Requiem For a Dream", among others. Here he goes in a very different direction and brings us... what exactly? a haunter house scary movie? a psychological terror drama? If you have seen the movie's trailer, you have a pretty good idea what to expect, that is, in the first 45 min. of the movie. After that, the movie goes into a completely different direction. No worries, I won't spoil, but I will say this: I was at times bewildered as to what is going on, at times annoyed, at times fascinated. In other words: the movie is all over the place. It is for me one of the weaker movies that Aronofsky has made to date. Jennifer Lawrence gives her all, and is quite good. Javier Bardem has a difficult role as the inherently unlikable husband. Ed Harris plays a small but vital role as the stranger, as does Michelle Pfeiffer as his wife. An what to make of those final 15 min. of the movie? I couldn't make heads or tails of it, except that I kept thinking about "Rosemary's Baby", although that classic is better than "Mother!" by a mile or two.
The movie opened wide this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Saturday matinée screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended poorly (less than 20 people in a huge theater), and that is not a good sign for a movie just opening. Bottom line: if you are a fan of either Darren Aronofsky or Jennifer Lawrence, I'd suggest you check out this movie, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.