Mother issues

Rating: 8/10 (17 September 2017)

A couple with a substantial, acknowledged age difference live a quiet life in a nice house in the middle of a field, surrounded by forest. She(Lawrence, giving her usual solid performance. So much of it, here, is anxiety, especially communicated through her eyes, and it's great. A lot of people who hate this, disagree on the quality, and I can see how that would make you despise it, given how much of this is her reacting. She's loving, and accepts a huge amount of micro-aggressions, constantly undermining her will and wishes) has renovated it. He(Bardem, going expertly between sinister and charming. He's a poet, who desires praise from fans) is dealing with writer's block, which fills the air. That tension is greatly increased once people start showing up uninvited, and their rudeness gradually rises to the unbearable. You won't believe what happens next. No, really. That's not exaggeration. Unless someone gives you a detailed rundown of the events of this, it will constantly surprise you. Don't let them. Go into this with as little info as possible.
The hand-held camera is in fact not shaky, and yes, there is still great cinematography. The people who claim otherwise haven't watched Polanski. And you know what? Aronofsky hasn't yet mastered that style. I hope he does in the future. The pacing definitely isn't as tight, though he clearly put effort into that. Yes, there are a lot of close shots, uh-huh, a lot of them are of Lawrence, and, yup, her body is treated like a gun is by John Woo. I wonder if that was decided upon before the director and start began dating. If you've watched 2 or 3 of his pictures, you should know if you are or aren't into his stuff. If you don't like artsy, this isn't for you. He woke up one morning, and this poured out of him. You can tell. This is a divisive film. The second half is, indeed, completely insane. Some will hate it. I, like others, loved it. And long before that, dream logic and surrealism run the show: if that bothers you, stay away, rather than complaining that the movie isn't realistic. Don't buy chocolate ice cream and get upset it isn't vanilla. The trailer told you as much. There's a ton of allegory... it's as if Darren woke up manic one day, thumbed through the Bible and underlined every single passage he thought would be compelling to put in this. Then you have a lot of events that are very current. This mix is... interesting. Many call it a failure. It could have been. In lesser hands, it would be.
There is a lot of disturbing content, a moderate amount of frequently brutal violence, and a little swearing in this. I recommend this to anyone who think they can handle it. Even if you end up not favoring it, you're not likely to see anything even remotely like it at any time. 8/10