flawed masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (3 February 2018)

My enthusiastic perfect score is NOT an indicator that this film IS actually a near perfect film, as it totally isn't. It's extremely flawed, particularly in terms of its over-the-top abundance of arguably pretentious symbolism. However, that cast aside, "mother!" is pretty damn incredible!
Sad, horrific, and darkly funny, "mother!" is a hopeful indication that, when Aronofsky has matured a bit as an artist (I love all of the films of his I have seen, but I still admit to them having various elements of a possibly-pretentious-sort-of-self-indulgent nature), he can make a movie that is even better! The pieces of the puzzle are all here, and are used to a strong, powerful effect. While the film is obviously a biblical allegory, it can still be viewed as a horrific surrealist nightmare of a film and nothing more. It is reminiscent of Lynch's "Eraserhead" or Svankmajer's "Alice", and, speaking of "Eraserhead", the sound design in this film may be its greatest achievement believe it or not! Strip this film of its visuals, and you've got what may be the greatest radio play of all time (at least since Samuel Beckett's death)!
The visuals are also quite spectacular. Even if some of the special effects could easily be labeled "cheesy" or "tacky" or "whatever" in some way, I still found myself loving them! And Aronofsky's lens is fittingly unsure about almost everything. The camera shakes nervously, following Jennifer Lawrence as she runs and screams through a decaying world. The acting is also quite magnificent (Razzie Awards, go f*ck yourselves), with Lawrence turning out my favorite performance of hers by far, as well as a surprisingly likable (if in the end mildly sinister) portrayal of God by Javier Bardem. Even better are performances by Ed Harris (who is fantastically tragicomic in his interpretation of the dark, absurdist humor flowing through the very strange scenario) and Michelle Pfeiffer (who is still beautiful, but manages to demolish said beauty with a performance peppered by the spiciest of cruelties towards our leading lady).
While apparently extraordinarily divisive among viewers, I highly recommend "mother!" to almost anyone who loves film, as long as they think they can handle it, as it is extremely intense on all sorts of levels (which will, obviously, happen naturally when telling a deeply disturbing tale with a claustrophobic and surreal atmosphere).admittedly flawed and immature in some aspects, but ultimately a thrilling exercise in nightmarish surrealism