Not for the faint of heart, Mother! is a visceral experience and story that needed to be told

Rating: 8/10 (19 September 2017)

Not since his 2006 opus The Fountain has Darren Aronofsky unleashed a film as polarizing as Mother. A pretentious melange of religion, misogamy, paranoia, fear and death of all that is pure and innocent, Mother! is as unrelenting as Aronofsky's acclaimed break out film Requiem for a Dream (2000).
Largely marketed as horror film, beneath the surface Mother! is an allegorical tale where a writer/poet (Bardem) creatively struggles to find his muse, while his wife (Lawrence) works tireless to rebuild their home, which was mysteriously destroyed in a fire. As the story unfolds various Old Testament Biblical figures begin to visit the writer (God) to express their devotion and adoration (i.e. Adam, Eve, Cane, Able, etc.). Each of these visitors is riddled with flaws as they attempt to atone for their sins. In the process, they destroy God's most cherished possession and much of their home (earth) which the Mother has been desperately protecting. In a fit of rage she expels these visitors, much to the chagrin of God (end Old Testament).
Entering into the New Testament of Biblical allegories, Mother convinces God to conceive a child. God reverts to an even more narcissistic state as devoted followers begin storming their home once again. I won't go into the details, but lets just say the bulk of the negative reviews stem from Aronosky's portrayal of a world gone mad as these zealots attempt to control through fear, murder, rape and utter carnage. As a result, the Mother's home (earth) turns into a war zone.
Anyone raised either Christian or Jewish should easily pick up on the themes in Mother! What I found poignant was Aronofsky's personification of a patriarchal, theistic society ruled by a narcissistic God who would time-and-time again sacrifice his own wife, mother, child and home (earth) to be worshiped. These same patriarchal themes occur in nearly all organized religions, and are the basis of most political systems today. Knowing the writer/director is an outspoken environmentalist, I can certainly understand the not-so-subtle message here.
Due to the visceral response it has received -grade F on CinemaScore- I can't in good conscious recommend Mother! What I can say is that the performances by Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem are Oscar-worthy. In addition, I felt the combination of direction, cinematography, editing and sound design created a surrealist nightmare of a world that at times induced genuine nausea. As someone who doesn't shy away from disturbing films of this nature, Mother! is as impactful a movie as I've experienced all year. I sincerely hope that the abrasive nature of the film doesn't overshadow the urgency of the themes conveyed here. Considering the film was largely marketed to mainstream audiences as a horror film starring A-list actors, I suspect some of negative reaction by the general public shows a lack of comprehension and/or a genuine distaste for film's complete lack of resolution.