Atmospheric drama engulfed by outrageous surrealism

Rating: 6/10 (23 June 2018)

Mother! is a phantasmagorical horror about a self-centred writer, and his young homemaker housewife, who live in seclusion in the countryside. The film progresses by way of a home invasion with the husband's consent. It succeeds for an hour as a kind of filmic explication of anxiety and dismay, builds good tension and atmosphere. There is a human centre which sadly vanishes when further layers are added: abuse, black comedy, surrealism, and in the end it is either perceived as unwieldy and obtusely indulgent, as I found it, or enjoyable for its sheer violation of usual conventions. There isn't an onscreen chemistry between Jarvier Bardem and Jennifer Lawrence - they are not believable as a couple, but each perform well, particularly Lawrence who does well as the shrinking violet, playing against type. All in all, Mother! is a thought-provoking and original story about mysogynystic violence but it hould have left black humour at the door.