Perplexing but too ignorant and pretentious to deliver the needed emotional payoff

Rating: 3/10 (12 December 2018)

Darren Aronofsky is undoubtedly a talented director who has made some terrific films (Pi, Black Swan, Requiem, and The Wrestler being my favorites). His ability to imbue the dark side of humanity into a spellbinding screenplay is enthralling. So when I saw this director team up with an A+ cast and saw the initial bad reviews, I figured it was a classic case of film-goers wanting a straight-forward feel-good story and not having the intellect to appreciate one of Aronofsky's sharp films. Sadly, the bad reviews were right this time.
The film is not as some have said the worst film ever. It is certainly challenging, as it had me trying to figure out what was happening the entire film. I was on the edge of my seat. It's not until the end (spoiler warning) when you discover it's an allegory to creation and Christianity that the film truly misses the needed payoff for what the audience must endure.
The director is not simply showing you the facts and allowing you to make your own decision. No, he is unequivocally making some baseless points here:
God created people because he's selfish and wants to be adored
Mother earth is His bride and despite her giving Him everything, it's not enough
All people are horrible and worship ignorantly
From simply rating this as a film, it's a long terrible exercise of watching people behave rudely. It's like having your in-laws leave dirty tissues on your pillowcase for two hours. And to eventually realize it's the director smirking and saying "I know, it's terrible, right? And yet this movie is about you" could have been deft but instead feels so pretentious that it's arrogant. Martin Scorsese has that talent to show how terrible humans can be and lets us feel righteous indignation about it and ponder our morality. This film by contrast feels as biased and intolerable as watching political ads.
As a Christian, I found this film ignorant at best and blasphemous at worst. It is so ill-informed it's as if Aronofsky read about Genesis on wikipedia. The theology is flat-out wrong. The bride of Christ is the church, not earth. Miss this point and you have no film. Then there are some critical themes that aren't represented here: that God foretold of the Messiah throughout the Torah (Old Testament), that He knowingly sent His one and only son, Jesus, to die for our sins because of His perfect love for us. I think if you're going to make a story that's an allegory to this but miss these ideas you've basically missed the ballgame.
It's a perplexing and fascinating film to unpack and the performances are solid, so I don't agree it's the worst film ever, but I think once you unpack it all it's as disappointing as a reminder to drink your Ovaltine.