"An exhilarating ride of biblical proportions."

Rating: 9/10 (20 September 2017)

mother! is written & directed by Darren Aronofsky and stars Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brian Gleeson and Domnhall Gleeson.
A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. (18 cert; 121 mins)
As I'm writing this, it has been a few days since I experienced Darren Aronofsky's psychological experiment; mother!, yet the thought of this incredible film remains. I'm still working out the various allegories in my mind during day-to-day life, the impact of mother! is still felt.
mother! has received a lot of backlash from audiences since its release and I can understand why. It's a tough watch, in fact the first two acts are slow-burn, which means the average movie-goer will lose concentration. Don't let the negative reviews and underwhelming box office numbers put you off, though. this is a thought-provoking film and a very ambitious and brave move by Aronofsky. It isn't an invasion horror like the trailers lead you to believe, and perhaps that's where most of the backlash comes from. This is one of those films that will try to disorientate you, but after some research, it becomes a work of genius. Within its disturbing final act is a clear message.
Jennifer Lawrence seems to be getting some heat for her acting style. According to the majority, she never changes the way she acts in all of her projects. Now, I could agree for some of her films, but in mother! she is literally put through hell. I can imagine it was difficult to bring these scenes to life, especially those in the final act, but she performs remarkably well and consistently throughout. I felt like I was experiencing everything right there with her. Javier Bardem plays a rather mysterious character, who disappears every now and then but reappears in the strangest way. It's hard to put into words how this film makes you feel when watching, but I'd stick to what I mentioned earlier about being disorientated. Javier has a hand in this feeling, and I think he brought a lot to the role. Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer are simply brilliant. Again, bringing a sense of suspicion that constantly gets weirder and weirder as the story plays out. The Gleeson brothers have fairly small roles but play quite an important part in the grand scheme of things. This is something to read further into after having seen the film. What I can say, though, is that they were a fine support act.
Moving on to the visual side of things; the house set looks stunning. We see it as it's being decorated and furnished by Lawrence's character, so there's a lot of details documenting this process. Part of why the house looks and feels so real is because mother! was shot on Super 16mm film. A format I will always highly praise for its extremely natural capturing of light and the grittiness that kisses the screen in the upscale. Utilising close-up, over-the- shoulder and point-of-view shots, Matthew Libatique puts us right into the story. They even went as far as to build the set so that the camera could move freely in a 360 degree fashion. We see everything as mother does, and that's something I really appreciated. Finally, the visual and special effects, though minuscule, were bitingly real. I can't, and won't, go into the specifics, but there are some scenes that felt too real. but not in the bad way. It wouldn't have impacted me the same way if they were handled differently.
This is usually where I'd mention the composers work on a film. But, seeing as there's no score for mother!, I'll talk about the sound. Composer JÃ³hann JÃ³hannsson spent about a year writing original music for this film, but after test screenings, both he and Aronofsky decided against using the score. JÃ³hannson wasn't entirely out of the job, however. With his music being very ambient, he ended up working as a sound consultant alongside Craig Henighan to create the 'sound' of the house. There's the expected knocks and creaks, but it's when mother starts to break down that we hear sounds (such as glass) stretch out further than they realistically could. I found this really quite unnerving; a unique and interesting way to tackle sound design. That said, I would love to hear some of what JÃ³hannsson wrote originally, maybe a cut of the film with the score? Either way, mother! worked very well with its absence of score, I liked that as a viewer I didn't have something telling me how to feel. It all felt very raw.
There's really not much else to say. I've not experienced much else like it, apart from Denis Villenueve's Enemy back in 2013. Many people will say that if a film makes you search up the meaning afterwards, it's a failure. I respectfully disagree. I like to go deeper into the story, and I find it fascinating reading other people's theories and impressions. Think back to Donnie Darko, that still sparks conversation even after 16 years.
I think everyone should give mother! a go. Form your own opinions. It will always be divisive. People who love it will love it. People who hate it will hate it. This is the beauty of filmmaking. I'm in no way religious, but I found the concept simply brilliant and the execution, though disturbing, fantastic.
Verdict; A dark, disturbing psychological thriller that thrives in a mysterious tension. mother! is an exhilarating ride of biblical proportions.
mother! â€“ â˜…â˜…â˜…â˜…â˜… (9/10)